Nomenclature
by Bushy Squirrel
Summary: A person's whole personality can be described by one simple thing. Their name. But what if someone has more than one name? Rated M for language, themes, and violence.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything NCIS, except for the first 7 seasons on DVD...

**A/N:** This story came to me during an attack from a Plot Bunny. Those suckers sure do bite hard...

* * *

"That fat French fuck has been dead all these years and he's still haunting us," the man in the lieutenant's seat spat out. "We just can't get out of his shadow."

"We will, Colin. We will. Be patient." Colin looked at the man on his left, the man at the head of the table, with disbelief.

"Seriously? Pops, we..."

"Quiet, Colin," his father snapped. "Rene Benoit may have been a sneaky man in life but his reach will only go so far in death. We will simply wait out this sudden burst of energy the French families have. They will burn themselves out eventually. Those who are patient will benefit in the aftermath."

"That may take some time, Sir. What do we do while we wait?" a third man pointed out. He sat across from Colin, in the other lieutenant's seat, and held himself in a more calm demeanor.

"Survive." Came the simple reply. "We out lasted the Russians. We out lasted the Italians. We _will_ out last the French. Continue with business, as always."

Most of the men at the table gave their various forms of acknowledgment, shuffling through their papers to make sure they didn't forget anything. That last sentence from the Don was a common dismissal for the end of their meetings.

"Mickey," The Don spoke up, interrupting the others. He was smiling knowingly at the man who sat at the other end of the table. "You haven't made a peep since you arrived. Care to comment on anything we've covered?"

Colin smirked, leaning back in his chair. He knew this would be good. As Mickey's roommate all their years together at college, he understood how the man thought.

"As the only one here who's had any sort of friendly relationship with Rene Benoit and his family, it's clear to me that the French families are only so arrogant because Rene's quote unquote 'throne' remains empty." Mickey sat forward in his seat as he spoke, creating a steeple with his fingers on the table.

"Go on." The Don pressed. Mickey gave him a wicked grin before letting out a nonchalant shrug.

"Then it's simple, isn't it? Get his daughter to name a successor. Surely her word will have more say with the families than that of the CIA's." Colin burst out laughing when Mickey finished speaking.

"That, my brother, is genius!" Colin chortled, pointing Mickey as he spoke.

"But how will we convince her to do so, Mickey?" The Don asked, ignoring his son's outburst. The younger man's grin turned from wicked to cocky.

"Let _me_ worry about that."


	2. The Calm Before the Storm

**A/N: **So many stories. It's difficult to decide which one gets priority on the "Must update!" list...

* * *

"No, Tony." Tim cut off his gregarious partner before the man could finish talking. "I'm not going to partake in your little scheme. I don't want 'death by office supply' to be listed in my obituary, thank you very much."

"Come on, McSidekick! Ziva will never suspect you to actually participate. That's what makes the plan so fool proof!" Tony whined across the room. The two men were currently double checking their crime scene while the rest of the team did their various duties back at the Yard.

"Not entirely fool proof since a fool created it." Tim shot back, smothering a smirk at Tony's put-out look.

"_Fine_. No pranking Ziva." Tony started to turn back to the closest he was looking through but stopped. "What about our Mistress of the Dark? Will you prank Abby?"

"Dear, god, Tony!" Tim finally let out a laugh, looking at Tony in disbelief. "I know April Fool's Day is coming up but what you've been suggesting is a death wish. Why don't you play the ultimate prank on the others and not do anything? They're all going to be on edge, anyway, expecting you to do something. Making them walk on egg shells all day long will teach them not to assume anything."

Tony paused, considering what Tim had just told him. Admittedly, he had never gone that route before. And Tim was right. The others were already starting to put their hackles up in expectation of the coming prankster's holiday. Letting them go on full 'Red Alert' for no reason would irritate them more than any trivial prank he could come up with.

"Alright, McThinker, no pranking Team Gibbs. But we still gotta do something. Who would be the most unsuspecting person in the Yard?"

"The Director?" A look of horror appeared on Tony's face at Tim's suggestion.

"And you called me foolish!" Tim shrugged, an innocent look on his face as he shut down the computer he was looking through.

"What? I was just answering your question."

"We will be head slapped into the next century if we prank Vance." Tim grinned with a chuckle.

"That's the genius of it, Tony. No one, not even Gibbs, would consider the idea of Vance being pranked by one of us. In fact, they're all wondering what you're going to do to _me_. Imagine their surprise when they find out we partnered together this year instead."

"Still. It's the _Director_ you're talking about." Tony insisted, feeling a bit uneasy at the sudden role reversal between the two of them.

"If we keep it relatively low key, it'll be easier to do than if we pranked one of the others. Vance considers himself safe and that makes him the perfect target." Scrunching his face at Tim's logic, Tony closed the closet with a thud.

"Let's go, McGee. There's nothing new here. Maybe we'll have a better idea of what to look for after finding a few leads." Chuckling at Tony's avoidance, Tim nodded in agreement and grabbed his kit before following his partner out the door. He waited until they were in the car before saying anything else.

"So, Vance?" Tony winced.

"I didn't realize you were the more daring of the two of us, McEvil." Tim rolled his eyes, giving Tony an expectant look. "Ok, let's prank Vance this year. This is going to take a lot more planning than usual."

"We can start tonight. It's Thursday. The others won't bat an eyelash if we beg off hanging out as a group to have a pizza night since we'll most likely be stuck at work tomorrow and won't be able to do it then."

"Why do I get the feeling you've been thinking about this for a while?" Tony asked in an accusatory tone.

"Since when do I suggest anything without having thoroughly thought it over first?" Tim countered. "If I didn't think we could do it I wouldn't have suggested Vance."

"Well, what ever we come up with better make the head slaps worth it. When we get caught, and we _will_ be, Gibbs is going to make our lives living hell for a while." Tony gripped the steering wheel tighter at the thought of having to face Gibbs' wrath.

"It won't be anything we haven't encountered before, when it comes to Gibbs. It'll be with Vance where we have to cover our asses." Tim insisted.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Tony rose his eyebrows at Tim's statement, being unable to lift a single eyebrow like Tim could.

"I've been giving Vance's kids some computer safety lessons. We exchange emails regularly." Tim replied simply as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You want to get his kids involved."

"Yep. Could probably get Jackie involved, as well, if the idea is good enough. What wife doesn't want to stick it to her husband every once in a while?" Tim's smirk came back full force. Tony shook his head with a disbelieving scoff. If they could convince Jackie to help them, all their bases would be covered.

"Alright. Planning starts tonight." Tony confirmed with finality.

-1-

When Tony and Tim walked off the elevator, they both froze at seeing Fornell, Sacks, and Kort in the Bull Pen. Surely seeing all three of them at once meant the apocalypse was coming.

"What are _they_ doing here?" Tony hissed.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Tony." Tim replied in a wary tone. He pushed at Tony's back to get the man moving. "But we won't find out 'til we're over there."

Grumbling something about his good day coming to an end under his breath, Tony reluctantly starting walking to the Bull Pen again.

"And the twins finally arrive." Kort commented in his usual smooth tone and accessory smirk.

"Boss, what's going on?" Tim asked as if Kort hadn't said anything. Ziva quickly elbowed Tony, cutting off his retort before he had a chance to start saying it. Gibbs jerked his head at Fornell to explain the situation to Tim and Tony.

"Backlash from Rene Benoit's death has finally started to affect the other families. And not just the French. The Russians, the Italians, and the Irish are all up in arms. They're worried the French in-fighting will spill over onto them."

"I thought those three groups were all settled into their businesses and had nothing to worry about from the others." Tony pointed out. His face was stony from the mention of Rene Benoit. "The French families are relatively new to the scene compared to the others. All the older French families have either died out or retreated from the US. That should make the others more than able to handle them."

"The CIA has been unable to keep a steady hand on the Benoit family since Rene's death. Our plants just don't have enough pull to keep themselves in power for long. It's causing uneasiness." Kort supplied.

"You mean if a man outside of CIA control gets into power in the family, he may very well declare war on one of the other families. Or the Russians. Or Italians. Or Irish." Tim filled in all the blanks quickly, wondering what that had to do with NCIS.

"Correct, McGee." Fornell took over again. "With a threat of this magnitude, it's been suggested that multiple agencies get involved. If a war of the families starts it could take us years to end it."

"The case is being handed over to Balboa's team. We're taking over the Irish aspect of the operation." Gibbs butted in. "They've been relatively quiet compared to the others, which could mean a variety of things."

"NCIS is best at figuring out the unique cases and the silence of the Irish family is an odd one." Fornell continued, used to Gibbs' interruptions. "We think they have been starting to move a lot of their business to the digital world so having you work on that is best, McGee. You're skills with a computer makes you an important asset to the operation. Don't expect much field work with this, if any at all."

Tim nodded in understanding. Not many field agents had the same educational background as he did. And with at least four families in the Irish corner, his work was going to be cut out for him. It was pretty much guaranteed that he would be running back and forth between the various agency buildings in the foreseeable future.

"Where do we begin?" Tony asked.

"Everything we have on the Irish families is on its way here, DiNozzo. It's up to you guys to decide where you're going to start." Tony moved his focus over to Gibbs. He was assuming that since Vance wasn't there that Gibbs and the others had already met with the man.

"We're going to make sure all the FBI's information is up-to-date, then move on from there. You and Ziva are going to start at the bottom of the work ladder to see if any of them are recruiting more than usual. That will give us a direction at aim at. McGee, you know better than anyone where to start with the computer stuff. Vance has given you permission to fall back on Cyber Crimes since you're pretty much heading that aspect of the operation." Gibbs summarized.

"Our own cyber division is being pulled into this, as well, for the other parts." Sacks finally spoke up, directing his words at Tim. "Since we're covering the Russians and the Italians, they'll more likely be in a free-for-all than anything else. Leads could come from anywhere. If you need anything, go through me. I'll be the one directing our cyber teams in the directions we need them to go."

"Got it, Sacks. After I have a chance to go through all the files you guys have on the Irish families and delegate tasks to Cyber Crimes, I'll schedule a time with you for me to come over to the Hoover Building. I might be able to give you a direction right away." Tim mentally made a check list of everything he needed to get done right away, especially a few things that may help Tony and Ziva.

"Now that DiNozzo and McGee have been briefed on the situation, I had better get back to Langley." Kort said to make his exit. Gibbs and Fornell made no move to stop him.

"Wait." Tim stepped in his way, gaining the attention of all the others. Kort looked at him expectantly. "Jeanne Benoit. What is the Benoit Family's view on her?"

"Why do you ask?" Kort prodded. Tony's jaw clenched as he turned away from Tim, having hoped she wouldn't be mentioned.

"She's Rene Benoit's _daughter_, Kort." Tim snapped. "A member of a rival family or a disgruntled member of the Benoit Family may go after her in retaliation for something her father did since they can't go after a dead man. She's an innocent bystander in all of this. Is she going to need protection?"

"Protection has already been offered, McGee. Miss Benoit turned it down." Kort almost succeeded in hiding a frown. "It may have to do with her connection to the Murphy Family."

"Jeanne is fooling around with the Irish?" Tony couldn't resist asking, turning back. Kort shook his head.

"She's a close acquaintance of Mickey Murphy." Fornell and Sacks let out a few choice curses at Kort's words, confusing the NCIS MCRT. "Mickey Murphy is the Murphy Family's choice hit man. He has visited the Benoit household a few times over the years but I never got to meet the man. I was always sent out on business during his visits. The Murphy Family has been keeping any details about him secret and Rene Benoit seemed to agree on that."

"What do you mean?" Tim couldn't help but ask. Something was off.

"Mickey has a reputation of playing with his food before he eats it." Kort explained. "Other than Miss Benoit and blood members of the Murphy Family, no one alive knows what he looks like because Don Murphy won't allow him to meet outsiders unless he's ordered Mickey to kill them."

"Then how does Jeanne know what he looks like?" Tony pressed on.

"They met before he was formally recruited into the family. I don't know how."

"Wait, recruited? He's not a blood member?" Tim's eyebrow shot up.

"Yes. Mickey Murphy is the name he was given _after_ joining the family. That much I know. But I'm sure the FBI files cover everything else. Like I said, very little is known. May I go, now?" That last question came out with a tone of sarcasm, which Tim rolled his eyes at as he stepped aside. Everyone waited until Kort was on the elevator before saying anything else.

"What wasn't Kort telling, Fornell?" Tim immediately went to the point. Fornell and Sacks exchanged looks before Fornell answered.

"He essentially told you everything _we_ know about Mickey Murphy. He's Don Murphy's number one hit man. If you have Mickey Murphy on your ass then you've really fucked up. And you won't know it, either, until you're right about to die. Kort wasn't kidding about the man's reputation." Fornell shuddered at the thought. "Gossip from blood members of the Murphy Family who've attended his hits tells us that Mickey will introduce himself by his birth name when meeting his mark and won't reveal who he is until after he's already disabled the person from fighting back. They find it hilarious how easy it is for him to lull his marks into a sense of security before attacking."

"We should see how often Don Murphy has been calling upon his number one hit man." Ziva suggested, seeing a reason to join the conversation. "If everyone is on alert then this man may either be called upon more or less than usual. It all depends on Don Murphy's reaction to the threat from the French Families."

"I'll stick Keating on the computer trail right away." Tim offered. "If the Irish families are going digital then he might find something there."

Gibbs nodded in approval of how his agents have been handling their sudden shift in work and what they chose to focus on.

"Should head back to the Hoover Building, Fornell, to get your own base of operations set up. We'll be starting as soon as your files are all delivered."

"Probably. We need to go through everything the CIA has provided us about the Benoit family. I'll call later to set up a schedule for updates." Giving everyone a nod of farewell, Fornell headed off to the elevator with Sacks in tow.

"Alright." Gibbs returned to his desk. "You all know your tasks. Prepare what you think you're going to need for when the files get here."

Exchanging slightly overwhelmed looks, Tony and Ziva returned to their own desks to start calling contacts while Tim headed to the back elevator to go down to the sub basement.


	3. Strange Events

**A/N:** I am deeply appreciating all the readers this story has been collecting. Out of all my WIPs it is definitely the most serious, not to mention complex, one in terms of its plot and needs greater care in being written than the others do. I hope you all understand if it takes me longer to update this story than it takes for me to update the others. It is a fragile web I'm weaving, here, and I don't want to ruin it for any of you guys.

* * *

Tim leaned over Keating's shoulder with a hand on the back of his chair, talking to the man in lowered tones.

"Keating, I have a special project for you. While all the others are focused on the general business of the Irish Families, I want you to look for information on one specific thing. Or, should I say, one specific person."

"Alright." Keating nodded, knowing from experience that any task coming from a member of Gibbs' team would be given with high standards to meet.

"The FBI and CIA haven't been able to find much information on Mickey Murphy. He's Don Murphy's choice hit man and the Don has been keeping details about Mickey quiet. I want you to mole into the Murphy Family's documents and see if you can find anything, even if it's just a picture." Tim reached for the file stack he had put down when he came over and pulled out the second file folder from the top, handing it over to Keating. It only had two sheets of paper in it. "This is everything that is known about Mickey Murphy. It might give you an idea of where to look for more."

"Will do, Agent McGee." Keating took the file quickly and slipped it under his keyboard. McGee clearly didn't want this open to the rest of Cyber Crimes.

"Great. Email me regularly with updates. Even if you don't find anything on Mickey Murphy, something you come across might help elsewhere." Patting Keating on the shoulder, Tim stood upright and picked his file stack back up. He cleared his throat before speaking louder to the whole group. "Ok, everyone! I'm going to head back up to the Bull Pen to see if the others have any specific thing they want us to look in to. I'll be working from my computer up there to stay in the loop and keep communication going between us and the others. What we find will tell them what to look for, themselves, and vice versa. If you feel like you have found something then speak up, no matter how trivial it is. A mistake made with the small things could give us a break at finding information about the big things. As the saying goes, 'The Devil is in the details'."

After looking over everyone slowly to make sure they all understood what they needed to do, Tim spun on his heel and headed to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed behind him he opened the top file again to read it over. The O'Riley Family, the Dunne Family, the McCarthy Family, and the Murphy Family were the primary force of the Irish on the Eastern seaboard and generally lead the rest of the Irish families in the country by proxy or through marriage. Mickey Murphy was a special priority given his anonymity, which was why Tim singled out Keating for the job, but he felt that the rest of them should start with the O'Riley family. Everything they did looked suspiciously legit, meaning it was everything but. They also had been cozy with the Russians in the past and that could lead to a power move later on if a war of the families couldn't be prevented.

"So are Zee-va and I doing a general sweep, McGee?" Tony asked before Tim was even back at his desk. "Our contacts need something specific to give us any answers."

"Start with the O'Riley Family." Tim provided as he brought his computer to life with a wiggle of his mouse. "All the currents records on them are eerily legal, even if just by a hair. I don't trust any of it. Feels like a house of cards, to me."

"Why would they make a house out of cards and why are you feeling it?" Ziva asked with a look of confusion. Tim couldn't prevent a snort coming out and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose while Tony openly laughed.

"They're pretending to be legit is what I meant, Ziva. Careful planning on their part is the only thing keeping everything from being exposed. If you two can poke and prod in the right places it all should come falling down."

"O'Riley Family it is. You going to go submit yourself to Slacks any time soon?" Tim raised an eyebrow at Tony's question about his end of things. The man normally went cross eyed at the mere mention of computer work.

"Not for a day or so. I'm going to let them dig into their own files before arriving with even more things for them to work on. That should also give Cyber Crimes enough time to come up with a good list of leads so Sacks and I can start comparing notes right away. We're definitely going to find some connections between our work and the FBI's, at least as far as the O'Riley Family is concerned. They're friendly with the Russians. Expect to see Sacks coming here as often as I go there."

"Oh, goody. Alright, Zee, let's go ruffle some feathers and see which little birdie is willing to talk first."

"We will call in periodically, McGee, to pass along information." Ziva informed Tim as she and Tony collected their things. "Since it is already mid-day we may be out quite late tonight. Expect calls to keep coming until we say otherwise."

"Got it. By the amount of files I need to go through and disperse through Cyber Crimes I'll most likely be here all night, myself. I'll redirect my desk phone to my cell if I need to leave for anything so neither of you are stuck talking to one of the techs."

"And watches synchronized! Talk to you later, McHacker." Tony mock saluted Tim and earned an exasperated shove from Ziva towards the elevator. Tim let out a chuckle at his partners' antics, knowing that not even Tony would be in a joking mood for long as they dug deeper in to mob politics.

* * *

"Jeanne, dear, please come in." Jeanne Benoit smiled widely as she walked into the Murphy household. She was greeted at the door by the Head of Staff, Vivian O'Malley. A distant cousin of the Lady of the House, Vivian was a kind woman who could be stricter than a nun with a ruler at times but was otherwise viewed like a favorite aunt by everyone, including some of the older adults. No servant in this household blended into the woodwork with demure personalities, that was for sure.

"Thank you, Vivian! It's so great to be state-side again and I couldn't turn down an offer to come stay a while. Please tell me Patrick is in the house. I have been missing his beef stew." Jeanne let her bags be whisked away by some of the lower ranking servants to whatever room she would be staying in as she spoke with Vivian. The first and last time she made a deal about her bags disappearing so quickly was not a pleasant experience. The woman in front of her had high expectations that the rest of the staff feared to fail.

"Yes, Ricky is in house. I'll pass along your request. The kitchen should be stocked well enough for him to make some, even tonight. He hasn't started on dinner yet." Vivian led Jeanne deeper into the manor, occasionally saying a word here and there to the staff they passed.

"That sounds excellent. Any new gossip I need to catch up on?" Jeanne's eyes wandered around to the various pieces of art that decorated the hallways. The Murphy's didn't have a large collection, few pieces in the building were worth more than a thousand or two, but there was enough to allow a small rotation in what was being shown. Penelope Murphy, the Lady of the House, prided herself in choosing art based on what it actually looked like instead of what it cost. Ugly artwork wasn't worth the money in her book and it led to a very beautiful home.

"Around the house? Kelly and Mark have been doing some extra work at night, if you know what I mean. Apparently the guest library is very dirty and needs a thorough cleaning _daily_." Vivian answered in a stage whisper. "Fredrick and Penelope have yet to walk in on them, so I've been allowing it."

"It's about time those two stopped ignoring all that sexual tension."

"The rest of the staff agrees with you. We've had a few marriages, a couple deaths, children and grandchildren have been born. The basic gossip that I'm sure the others will want to tell you themselves." Vivian began to slow her walk as they approached the rear entrance of the building, which lead to a large patio.

"Is that all?" Jeanne wondered. Usually Vivian had more than that every time she came. Vivian hesitated a moment before turning away from the door to talk with her guest face-to-face. She dropped her voice down to a full whisper.

"Fredrick and the boys have all been on edge lately. None of them will say why. Mickey hasn't been in for a Sunday dinner for a couple months and Colin doesn't even acknowledge it, as if he _knows_ what is keeping Mickey away. You remember how bad Colin can get when he goes without seeing Mickey for long periods of time. It's like the lad balances Colin's temper. But Colin hasn't acted out. It's disturbing." Jeanne frowned as Vivian described the serious side of the household. If it's been a couple months since Vivian has seen Mickey then something was going on. Jeanne may not be privy to details, same way most of the women of the Murphy household weren't privy, but growing up with her father helped her learn a few things. Things were bad if it was keeping Mickey away.

"You're here!" Jeanne zoned back in to reality, having missed Vivian turn back around and open the patio doors. She smiled widely as she hurried forward to hug the hyper young woman who had greeted her.

"Bridget! I hope everything has been going good with you since we last spoke. Last month? Was it last month?" Locks of red hair flew about as Bridget shook her head.

"No, month before last. But that's ok. It just leaves us with more to talk about this time. How long are you staying? Daddy didn't say." Bridget and Jeanne walked over to the lounge chairs while Vivian made her leave, having delivered her guest.

"I was thinking a week, allowing a day or so for me to get through my jet lag. Is it true Mickey hasn't been here in a while? I was looking forward to seeing him." Jeanne wasn't questioning Vivian's gossip and she knew the older woman wouldn't see it that way. Asking Bridget to confirm would just lead to more information that Vivian would admit she didn't know.

"He hasn't been at a Sunday dinner in a while, no, but I have crossed paths with him a few times when I've been coming home from evening soirees with my friends. I don't know why he's been visiting Daddy and Colin so late at night, it's been tricky to get him to say anything, and the visits don't even last that long. One time I got home just as he was arriving. He was gone by the time I had changed into pajamas and came back downstairs to say good night to Daddy. And you know I don't dillydally in getting ready for bed." Jeanne's face scrunched up in contemplation of what the late-night trysts could mean, especially since Mickey was avoiding telling Bridget anything about them. It was common knowledge, at least to everyone except Bridget, that Mickey was wrapped around Bridget's little finger. He was worse than the young woman's father, who doted on her more than her sisters because she was the youngest of all his children. Mickey's silence spoke volumes to Jeanne.

"I'm sure he has a pretty good reason for keeping everything so secret. Maybe he did something bad in the house and is afraid of Vivian finding out it was his fault." Both women fell into a fit of giggles, knowing Mickey would be rightfully scared if he _did_ do something to earn Vivian's wrath.


	4. Reports

**A/N:** Thank you, everyone, for being so patient. I know I am slower at updating this story than all my other ones. I do hope each new chapter makes the wait worth it.

For those of you interested, I have created a Tumblr for fanfiction where I will be posting not only the chapters of my stories that you all can read here, but also 'extended cut' chapters that include scenes I am unable to include on this website and 'deleted scenes'. This is my way to accommodate both this website's rules and the demands of my readers. The information for the Tumblr will be included on my profile.

* * *

"_From the looks of it, the O'Riley Family has been cutting back on their recruiting. By a lot._" Tony reported. The last bits of sunlight were starting to sink below the horizon as Tim looked out the Bull Pen windows, listening to Tony's latest call. "_They're worried about a spy sneaking his or her way into the ranks._"

"So it's an honest possibility that they have something to hide." Tim commented.

"_Definitely. I don't know what's going through your brain, McComputer, but I think the O'Riley Family is closing ranks because they're worried their fragile web of lies will fall apart at the slightest prod._"

"Yeah. I was thinking something similar. Even Ziva said as much, herself, when she called in an hour ago. I have part of Cyber Crimes focusing on the recruiting records we've got for the O'Riley Family that overlap with their business records. If they're worried then there has _got_ to be a crack somewhere for us to sneak in."

"_I'll keep looking, myself. Maybe the 'recruiting office' is not where we should be looking._" Tony suggested. Tim nodded in agreement, despite knowing Tony couldn't see him. "_I'll check with a few contacts who may have business connections with the O'Riley's. They don't _admit_ to having the connections but it's pretty much obvious to anyone paying attention. If I drop a few hints, I may be able to get a foot in at least the doggy door._"

"Doggy door? Seriously?" Tim let out a snort. Tony's crack was unexpected after an afternoon full of digging in cyberspace.

"_Any way in, Probie. Any way in._"

"I got that. Alright, I'll take your new information and go compare notes with who I've labeled as project leaders in Cyber Crimes. I've pretty much got a routine going, now, on when I go down there for updates and they're expecting me soon."

"_Just as long as you remember to eat, McLeader. Last thing any of us need right now __is Abby and Ducky tag teaming one of us._"

"Too late. They've already gone after Gibbs. They guilt tripped him into going home a while ago since he pulled an all-nighter last night." A sharp inhale sounded over the phone line.

"_Damn_."

"Tell me about it. I'm worried about them going after me, next, but I can't leave until you and Ziva call it quits for the night. Please don't answer any calls from Abby or Ducky. I'm still waiting for a call from Sacks."

"_I don't know, McGee._" Tony replied in a wary tone. "_You're asking me to avoid two people who are perfectly capable of removing any forensic evidence from the scene of a crime._"

"Chicken." Tim poked back. "At least hold them back until I get that call. I sent a carrier to the Hoover Building earlier with printouts for Sacks to look over. I need his reply before I'll feel comfortable with sending anyone home."

"_Fine._" Tony relented. "_I've got one last person to meet before my contacts start turning me away. Business hours are starting soon. They can't risk me running into one of their customers._"

"Coming back to the Yard?" Tim heavily hinted that he wanted Tony at the office.

"_I'll grab dinner before coming back._" Tony assured him before hanging up. Letting out a snort, Tim set his phone back in its cradle and turned his attention to his computer. A document search had been running during his and Tony's conversation, but unfortunately it wasn't finished yet. Tim was working on creating summary files on the four Irish families, which required a lot of mind numbing computer searches, and was feeling the downside of being considered one of the head agents of a multi agency operation. He was one of the few who had to worry about all the administration details.

"Agent McGee?" Tim looked up to see one of the agents from Cyber Crimes standing with a file folder, fidgeting slightly.

"Yes, Agent Wilder?" The woman bit her lip in hesitation before closing the distance between her and Tim's desk. She quickly set the file folder on an empty space next to his keyboard.

"I know you're due to come down for an update soon, but I just couldn't wait." Tim nodded in understanding.

"It's not an issue, Wilder. What did you find?"

"The Dunne Family has been making some deals with some of the Italians. Manpower, weapons, territory. It appears they're preparing to make a preemptive strike against one of the French families." Tim immediately snatched the file up and opened it. If plans were already in the works then they had a deadline. He could see what Agent Wilder was talking about as he skimmed over the documents she brought with her up to the Bull Pen, frowning at a few details. Setting the file down, Tim ripped the top two sheets from his legal notepad where he wrote down all the information Tony had reported and handed it over to Wilder.

"This is what Agent DiNozzo just called in. Have Zimmerman look it over and spread the info to the corresponding agents who need it. I'm running your file over to the Hoover Building." He stood up as he explained to Wilder what to do, collecting his things.

"Ok." She stuttered, surprised at Tim's sudden urgency. "What should I tell him if he has any questions?"

"To wait. If need be, I'll come down and explain when I get back from speaking with Sacks." Sure that Tony's information would get to where it needed to be, Tim double checked his computer one last time before dashing for the elevator.

* * *

"I'm sorry, McGee. I just haven't had the time to call you about those papers you sent earlier." Sacks said over the heads of the various technicians in the main office area he worked in. Tim waved it off, weaving his way through the desks to the FBI agent.

"That's not what I'm here for. Cyber Crimes found evidence that the Dunne Family is making deals with some of the Italians that allude to a preemptive strike against the French." Sacks snatched the file from Tim's hands before he even finished explaining why he came over in person.

"Seriously?" Sacks flipped through the documents in the file at a rapid pace, skimming them to read the main bullet points. "This is not good. I mean, seriously _not_ good."

"Why do I get the feeling you have more to add?" Tim asked rhetorically with a sigh, crossing his arms.

"That report you sent over earlier? I compared the numbers against our own to see where the connection points are. The Italian Families are stockpiling."

"Ok. Not good." Tim agreed, his voice raised half an octave.

"Tell me about it. The French really must be pissing people off if the Italians are stockpiling for an offensive against them." Sacks closed the file and raised his head to face Tim again. "We're not getting much on the Russians, yet. They still depend on good, old fashioned paperwork for most of their business. I'm currently waiting on Fornell to return from contacting our few undercover agents and CIs that we have among the Russians."

"Ziva mentioned leaving her own Russian contacts for last for that very same reason. I expect to get a lot of information from her the next time she calls in."

"Have you guys started on any footwork or is everything through Cyber Crimes right now?" Sacks inquired.

"Gibbs has been covering that. As far as I know, he has a handful of agents collecting information from all our official contacts. But Ducky and Abby sent him home a couple hours ago to get some sleep because he pulled an allnighter last night for the case we were working on, so I can't check in with him until he has a chance to look over his reports tomorrow morning."

"Could you ask him to pass things along to Fornell after you have your morning meeting with him?" Tim gave Sacks an amused, knowing look.

"Using me as a buffer, Sacks?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, Agent McGee." The FBI agent insisted, turning to a nearby technician. Letting out a snort, Tim shook his head and allowed himself a smile.

"I'll mention it to him. Do you have anything for me right now?"

"Not really. Too many leads to cover. I may not have anything for you for a few days." Sacks admitted with a frown, turning back to Tim.

"Want me to hold back on updates until you have something? I'll send over anything I think you may need to know right away, but I'll hold back anything I think you can wait to find out." Tim offered.

"That may be a good idea. At the rate things are going, I'll have to pull in more agents from other offices. I can easily see us getting overwhelmed very quickly."

"Ok. That's what I'm gonna do. We may need to get things done quickly to prevent a mob war, but we don't want to rush anything either."

"Speaking of..." Sacks began, a hesitant look appearing on his face. "Anything new on Mickey Murphy? I know he's only one man, but..."

"He's important." Tim finished. "Nothing yet. I was thinking that we should keep our search for Mickey on the down low. The man obviously has ways of finding things out. We don't want him learning that we're doing an in-depth search for him."

"Good point. For now on, I'll view no news as bad news. I'll work to keep Fornell off your back when he gets impatient."

"Thanks. I have a feeling we're going to be working overtime just to keep him and Gibbs placated." Tim announced to with a hollow feeling settling in his stomach. It was never enjoyable to see inevitable chaos coming.


	5. Plans of All Sorts

**A/N: **My 20th birthday is coming up, so I'm considering this chapter as an early birthday present to myself.

I hope all of you in the Northern Hemisphere have been fairing OK in this heat! I know I'm barely surviving.

* * *

Mickey Murphy made his way down the dark hallway of the family manor, paying no mind to the beautiful decorations he was passing. His only aim was the door at the end of the hallway with light leaking out from the bottom.

"The Italians are stockpiling." Was the first thing to come out of his mouth when he entered the room. The others in the room went silent at his sudden interruption, and when his words fully registered in their minds they started looking at each other with worried expressions.

"Are you sure, Mickey?" Fredrick Murphy questioned, the previous discussion of the room forgotten. Mickey scoffed as he approached his customary place at the other end of the table from Fredrick.

"As sure as I am that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. This is _terrible_ news. What the hell are we going to do about it?"

"How do you even know this?" Colin shot back. Mickey gave his 'brother' a glare, choosing to ignore the question. Colin wasn't an idiot. He'd figure it out.

"What's important is that you found out before they did anything." Fredrick insisted, slamming his hands flat on the table in emphasis.

"We must warn the other families." The Lieutenant across from Colin began. "This stockpiling must either be prevented or equaled. We will need help to do that."

"No! We cannot make our response so obvious." Mickey snapped.

"And why not?" The Lieutenant inquired with a frosty tone. "We will be leaving ourselves wide open."

"Because, you idiot, Mickey's source obviously caught it when we didn't. They'll catch us just as easily. It's called 'Snowballing'." Colin answered with just as much attitude before Mickey could. He was still frowning slightly from Mickey's dismissal of his own question, but Colin wasn't about to let one of the others speak like that to him. Fredrick rubbed his face with both of his hands, letting out a sigh as he thought over the predicament Mickey had dropped on their laps. Dreadful news and no real way to react to it.

"We need to find a way to slow them down." He finally declared. The others all turned towards their Don in expectation of his next words. "And make it look like we've known about their actions all along. Do research, ask for favors, call in debts. I don't care how you get it done. Just do it!"

That last shouted statement made most of the men at the table jump in surprise before rushing out of the room to meet the demand. In sort order, only Mickey and blood members of the Murphy Family remained in the room. Now the real exchange of information could begin.

"NCIS or FBI?" Colin immediately asked, requesting Mickey's exact source.

"The stockpiling info came from the FBI." Mickey started with a somber tone. "But that's certainly not the worst of it. An agent from NCIS' Cyber Crime unit discovered that the Dunne's are working with the Italians. They've probably been compliant with the stockpiling since the beginning."

"Who all knows this?" A cousin of Colin's asked.

"Multiple people from both agencies know one or the other, but currently only Special Agent Ronald Sacks and Special Agent Timothy McGee know it all. They're the contact point between the two agencies. It's fair to assume that their respective teams will know in the morning." Mickey supplied. "I suggest a rotating watch, to keep our men from being noticed right away. We need to keep our bases covered."

"Not to mention we want them to stay _alive _to maintain our supply of information. The other families will want their heads if any of this is discovered." Colin pointed out. Mickey let out a snort at the obviousness of that.

"Pops..." Mickey began, wondering how to make his proposition. "I think we should have a plan in place in case things get too hot for the girls to be around."

Fredrick remained silent, looking over his surrogate son while the man kept his eyes on the table. He was deeply disturbed by the proposal. If Mickey wanted an escape plan created for the women then he wasn't quite sharing everything he knew. But Fredrick trusted the young man with his life. He was sure Mickey would reveal the unknown in good time.

"Jeanne is in house." Mickey looked up in surprise at Fredrick's sudden confession. He had known that Jeanne was back stateside but didn't think she'd come here first thing. "She and Bridget have been conspiring to kidnap you since you haven't attended a Sunday dinner in weeks. Perhaps you should quell their unrealistic notions and come to the next one. And go visit them before you leave."

Mickey recognized a dismissal when he saw one. He gave his information. Now it was time for him to leave, so he may be granted that oh, so precious 'plausible deniability' that the Don insisted he have for some reason. Apparently not being involved in the planning of the actual kill took the salt out of the wound of him doing the deed.

"Alright. I shall go bid them both good night before I head home." Standing up, Mickey nodded a farewell towards Colin before heading out the door.

* * *

"Come in!" Bridget called to the person knocking on her bedroom door. She and Jeanne were currently sitting on her bed, going over their plan to snatch Mickey the next time he entered the manor.

"Pops tells me you two plan on kidnapping me." The two women looked up in surprise when the object of their planning spoke.

"Mickey!" Came in stereo, but Bridget beat Jeanne to him with pure speed. Mickey instinctively wrapped his arms around Bridget's waist to keep them from falling over when she made a running leap at him. He let out a laugh and spun her around, putting her down and reaching to hug Jeanne as she walked up to him at a more sedate pace.

"You, Mr. Murphy, have been a very bad boy." Jeanne chided with a small smile. "You've been freaking Vivian out by not coming to Sunday dinner."

"I am sorry about that." Mickey told the both of them, having the decency to express a slightly embarrassed look at the scolding. "My day job has been keeping me very busy. Between that and everything Pops has been telling me to do, I just haven't had much free time lately. I'll make an effort to attend this coming Sunday."

"You better. Otherwise I'm going forward with our kidnap plan. I'll tie you up in the basement and never let you out." Bridget warned him with a flick at his nose. Jeanne reached her hand up to cover the smirk forming on her face. She had seen others do that to Mickey and get their wrists grabbed with enough force that she had thought they'd bruise. To see Bridget do it and get a smile in response had to be the ultimate proof of just how smitten the man was.

"There'd be quite a few people looking for me, Bridget. How would you keep them from finding me?" Mickey poked a finger at Bridget's side, knowing she was ticklish, and made the young woman yip as a result. Bridget smacked a hand against his chest with a frown.

"I don't know." She replied with an obstinate look. "I'll figure that out later."

With a quick turn on her heel, Bridget stalked back to her bed with every ounce of Irish stubbornness she had inherited from her parents. Sharing an amused look, Jeanne returned to her place on the bed while Mickey grabbed the stool from Bridget's vanity table.

"What have you two been up to lately?" Mickey questioned as he settled onto the stool. "Happy be to back in the States, Jeanne?"

"Yes, I'm very happy." The French woman answered with a nod. "I never realized how much I call D.C. home until I went away for a while. I missed it a lot."

"Same old, same old. Working on my psychology dissertation, going to social events with friends. It has been quite _boring_ without you, Mickey." Bridget pouted. Jeanne let out a laugh and hasten to cover it up with a cough when Mickey gave her a look.

"I'm sorry work has been so busy for me, Bridget. Something has come up, so I'm not going to get a proper vacation for a while, but I promise I'll cash in some of my vacation days as soon as I can. I can't give you an estimate on when that may be, but it _will_ happen." Mickey placated Bridget before she went into full-out 'Guilt Trip' mode. He'd be stuck at the manor a lot longer than he intended to be if that happened.

"We can always do a bit of traveling in the mean time, Bridget." Jeanne suggested in an effort to get Bridget to focus on something else. "Take a road trip across the continental US. See all the horrendous tourist traps in each state we drive through."

"I don't know, Jeanne... Seeing that many middle aged men wearing socks with sandals would make me go certifiably crazy." Both young women burst into laughter at the mental picture, pulling an eye roll out of Mickey. He had to admit, though, that Jeanne provided the ultimate way to get them the hell out of D.C. without sending them away against their wills. Mickey filed the idea away for later and glanced at his watch.

"Girls, I should probably get going." He interrupted their laughter with a frown. Mickey had thought he had more than a few minutes to spare to come see the two of them before leaving, but he knew his watch was accurate. He needed to get going.

"Awww..." The pout returned to Bridget's face. "Why?"

"It's getting late and I have things I need to do early in the morning. Sleep _is_ a requirement, you know." Mickey risked another poke at Bridget's waist. She frowned again, but Mickey couldn't tell if it was because he was leaving or because of him poking her again.

"You're definitely going to try and be here Sunday?" Bridget confirmed.

"Yes. I can't guarantee that I can make it, but I'll put in the effort to." Mickey reminded the two of them of his busy schedule. Bridget moved to latch herself onto Mickey again as he stood up, not letting go until she felt good and ready to. Mickey dropped a kiss on the top of her head before letting her go, himself. He turned to hug Jeanne but she waved it off.

"Mickey, I'll walk with you to the front entrance. I wanted to ask your advice about something." Jeanne explained.

"Alright. Have a good night, Bridget. Don't cause Vivian too much trouble." Mickey gave Bridget a mischievous smile. She rolled her eyes and collapsed dramatically back onto her bed.

"Good night, Mickey. Now go, before I decide that now is a good time to kidnap you." Mickey snorted in amusement at Bridget's antics and headed for the door, opening it for Jeanne as they both left the room.

Jeanne remained silent as the two of them made their way down the hallway. Mickey was considering asking her why she _really_ wanted to leave Bridget's room as they arrived at the main stairwell, but Jeanne finally opened her mouth before he could.

"Mickey, I've been having some rather...well, Colin would describe them as damning thoughts." She began, making Mickey pause in his walking. Jeanne stopped along side him and allowed him to consider her words before continuing. "I've been considering contacting Tony again."

Mickey rose an eyebrow at Jeanne. Everyone in the Family knew about what happened with Tony DiNozzo, aka Tony DiNardo. Several members wanted to go after the man before the Don stepped in to stop them and prevent an incident with NCIS. No wonder Jeanne said Colin would consider her thoughts damning.

"What do you want me to say, Jeanne?" Mickey asked. Jeanne bit her lip, fidgeting slightly.

"Should I? Should I contact Tony? Possibly see him again? When I told you what he last said to me, you said it sounded like he was only telling me what I wanted to hear." Mickey nodded at Jeanne's summary of what he told her when she vented to him about Tony. "I have come to accept that he was doing his job, trying to get close to my father. In hindsight...well, he could have done a lot worse than what he actually did. I can see he made an effort to hold back as much as he could instead of immediately stringing me along."

"Jeanne..." Mickey started slowly, considering what she was saying to him. "Do you still love him?"

Jeanne immediately turned away, crossing her arms in a self hug at Mickey's direct question. Mickey could see the shine of tears forming in her eyes and knew he pretty much hit the nail on the head, even if she hadn't exactly considered that before. She was considering it now.

"Jeanne. Do you still love him?" Mickey repeated slowly. Jeanne inhaled sharply, letting out a slight gasping noise, and nodded jerkily.

"I think I do, Mickey." Mickey quickly closed the distance between himself and Jeanne, hugging her tightly. Now he fully understood why Jeanne was coming to him about this. They had known each other longer than they knew the Murphys and he was much more understanding than they would be. Mickey waited until Jeanne started to break the hug before pulling away. She hastily wiped away a few stray tears as she turned back to him. "Am I crazy to still love him, Mickey? After all the emotional hell I went through?"

"All's fair in love and war, remember?" Mickey joked lightly. "I don't think you're crazy. I think you fell in love with a man that's difficult to love because of his choice of employment. If he actually _was_ a college professor, I don't think we'd be having this conversation. You would have already contacted him by now."

"Point taken..." Jeanne admitted in a weak voice.

"Jeanne, if you feel like you can handle talking with him again then I say do it." Mickey was given an incredulous look, making him let out a heavy sigh. "I know you know a hell of a lot more about what I and the other men do, Jeanne, than you let on. You're a smart woman and you paid a lot more attention to your father growing up than the others realize. But despite everything I have done, I have always upheld one rule. Leave the innocent out of it. You are innocent in all of this and you deserve happiness if you can get it, even if it _is_ with a federal law enforcement officer who is actively trying to put the rest of us in prison. I don't know nor care what the others think, but I'm sure as hell ain't going to hold it against you."

"Really?" Jeanne asked in disbelief. She had braced herself, expecting Mickey to shoot the idea down as quickly as the others probably would have.

"Yes." Mickey confirmed, giving her a guiding push to get them to start walking down the stairs slowly. "I'm not going to let the possible consequences of my actions dictate how you should live your life. Admittedly, being able to look Tony in the face without him knowing I'm Mickey Murphy is a perk, but that's beside the point. You did not force me, Colin, or any of the others to do what we have done. You shouldn't be punished along with us."

By then the two of them had reached the bottom of the stairwell and were at the main entrance of the manor. Mickey checked his watch one last time and decided he could afford another minute or two to help Jeanne resolve this internal struggle she had put herself in.

"Considering how much drama you and he went through, think long and hard about the idea of speaking with him again, Jeanne. And if you decide it's something you ultimately want to do, do _not_ do it until you are absolutely sure you're ready to do it. Pops wanted a full background check done on Tony after your whole fiasco and after having had the chance to read it, it's pretty clear that you _both_ have a lot of baggage to bring to the proverbial table. Make sure you're willing to share and able to support yours before you go do anything." Mickey put a hand on one of Jeanne's shoulders in a sign of support.

"Alright. I'll think over all of that, long and hard, before I do anything." Jeanne decided, apparently pleased she went to Mickey for advice instead of asking someone else.

"And one more thing, Jeanne, before I go. This doesn't have anything to do with what we just discussed."

"Yes?"

"That suggestion you gave Bridget about doing some traveling. Start with day and weekend trips along the coast. Slowly work up to a country-wide road trip." Mickey implored. A slightly worried look appeared on Jeanne's face.

"Can you tell me why?"

"It's just...there's a reason why all us men have been so busy lately. Should something happen, your road trip idea is the perfect way to get you and Bridget the hell outta Dodge for a decent period of time on short notice. If you start with a day trip here, a weekend trip there, Bridget isn't going to bat an eyelash at you suddenly wanting to go on a full road trip for a few weeks." Jeanne absorbed everything Mickey was, and _wasn't_, telling her.

"You really are working hard to keep her oblivious to everything, aren't you?" Jeanne pointed out with a look of understanding. "Bridget's in just as much danger, if not more, as me and yet I'm the one you're talking to about all this. Not her."

"We all have managed to keep her from finding anything out for this long. None of us are willing to be the one to change that." Mickey explained without actually explaining why they all put so much effort into their illusions with Bridget. Every other Murphy child, male or female, was in the know. Only Bridget remained out of the loop and a lot more effort was being done to keep it that way than had been done with the others. "Good night, Jeanne, and think about what I've said. About both topics."

"Good night." Jeanne gave Mickey a quick hug, nodding at his final instructions, before watching him open the front door and disappear into the night.


	6. Clandestine Meeting

**A/N: **Definitely have a few characters being sneaky, now. If you feel like you just _have_ to tell me your guesses, I'll be more than happy to respond to PMs. But please try to keep your guesses out of your reviews so future readers who check those aren't spoiled.

* * *

Tim groaned when he woke up to a pounding on his apartment door. He sat up and frowned when he saw that the time was only 4:07 AM. Deciding to save his door before a neighbor decided to call the night manager and complain, Tim threw his blanket aside and stumbled his way through his bedroom and living room.

"Probie!" Tony's grinning face greeted Tim when he wrenched the door open without even looking through the peephole.

"Tony, it's four in the morning. I was in the middle of meeting that requirement called _sleep_. What the hell are you doing here?" Tim snapped. After everything that had happened the last handful days, taking on the joint operation with the FBI and everything that had been discovered since then, he wasn't in the mood to deal with the seemingly frivolous reason Tony was there for. The fact that Tony could even smile at four in the morning told Tim that the man had been up long enough to have at least three cups of coffee. Just enough time for him to think up something to get them _both_ in trouble.

"Well, most of the work the last few days has been on you and the geek team in the sub-basement. I figured you could use with a bit of a break." Tim gave Tony an incredulous look.

"And waking me up at four AM is your idea of giving me a break?!" Tim couldn't help but cry out in a tone of disbelief. He couldn't full out yell at the Italian because of the time, but he could definitely speak in a way to let the man know he was irritated. Tony wasn't _that_ thick.

"Doing some _field work_ is my idea of giving you a break. I have a few contacts who have earlier business hours than what is considered normal and I'm off to pick up some information from them soon. Wanna come?" Tony's grin grew a few inches. Tim's expression went blank as his brain, still a bit foggy from sleep, slowly registered what was being offered.

"Won't your contacts be wary about a new face showing up?" Tim asked, giving in to the inevitable and stepping aside to let Tony in. Tony walked in and headed straight to the kitchen. Tim followed with a roll of his eyes after closing his door with heavy click.

"Only if you show up alone. They trust me enough to not bat an eyelash if I bring in an unexpected partner." Tony fiddled around in different cabinets, confusing Tim for a few moments until Tim realized that Tony was taking out things for a quick breakfast. Tony was assuming that Tim was going to come along. Letting out a heavy sigh, Tim started moving so he could pick out his own food. He didn't trust Tony's diet choices.

"What information are they going to be giving you?" Tim asked in the middle of a yawn, pulling the cereal bowl out of Tony's hands and setting it on the counter so he could fill it.

"I asked them for a more...thorough background check on Colin Murphy than what the FBI provided." Tony supplied. Tim looked up in shock, his hand frozen mid-pour.

"Why would you ask for something so specific? We need to be focusing on the families as a whole, not their individual members."

"Yeah. Except we also need to identify Mickey Murphy." Tony shot back. He pulled one of the stools at the breakfast counter out slightly and straddled it, giving Tim a look as if everything should be obvious.

"So...to ID _Mickey_, you want to know more about _Colin_. Tony, I think Gibbs has smacked you upside the head one too many times." Tim shook his head in disbelief, turning back to his cereal.

"No, no, no. You're not seeing it, McGee." Tony hurried up to explain himself. "I went over the files on the Murphy Family from the FBI with a fine toothed comb. All the gossip about Mickey clearly states that he and Colin are pretty close. Brotherly, even. It leads me to believe that they've known each other for quite some time. Probably since before Mickey took on the Murphy name as a pseudonym. A name in Colin's past _has_ to be Mickey's real one."

"Mickey's name began popping up while Colin would have been in college." Tim admitted, supplying a piece of information he noted while going over the files, himself. "That's a lot of names we're going to have to go through. College classmates, teachers, room mates, coworkers, the works."

"I know. I know. This is gonna be hell. But it's _something_, which is better than nothing." Tony placated his partner. There was going to be a _lot_ of people to check out.

"After you and Ziva have gone through all your contacts you two get to go through everyone on that list." Tim declared without mercy. A horrified expression appeared on Tony's face at the thought of having to face Ziva when she finds out that she'd been volunteered for menial labor.

"Now wait just a second..." Tony began.

"No." Tim interrupted him, waving his spoon in Tony's direction. "Gibbs has pretty much made me lead of NCIS' part in the operation. I get to decide who does what. You asked your contacts for a profile on Colin Murphy without passing it by me so you get to follow through with it, call by vastly irritating phone call. Until I find something else for her to do, Ziva will be working with you. That's your punishment."

"You are a cruel and vindictive man, Timothy McGee." Tony asserted, his eyes narrowing in irritation.

"You woke me up at four in the morning without warning. Be happy I'm not sticking Gibbs with you, as well." Tim hissed before shoving another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. Tony winced instinctively, almost as if he was already experiencing the head slaps he would receive in that situation.

"I'll just...go get your clothes so we can leave as soon as possible." Tony offered, slipping off the stool and heading towards Tim's room before he could get any more ideas. Tim let out a snort of amusement. Turning the tables on Tony was definitely entertaining.

* * *

Tim followed closely behind Tony as they entered the warehouse, a bit on edge. Tony _said_ they wouldn't object to his presence there but his safety wasn't exactly guaranteed. Tim looked around to see if there were any aspects of this building that would make it unique to others but saw nothing. It was literally a generic warehouse, one of many in the D.C. area.

"DiNozzo. I see you've brought a friend." Tim's attention snapped forward as a group of four men walked out of the manager's office into the main area where he and Tony were. Tony sped up slightly to greet the man that spoke with a hand shake, nodding towards the others.

"My partner has been saddled to a computer desk. Figured I'd kill two birds with one stone by bringing him. Getting him out of the office and perhaps make a few new friends." Tony replied cockily. Tim was surprised by Tony's attitude but made sure to keep it off his face. He didn't know how long Tony knew these men. They very well could be contacts from Tony's Baltimore days. Or earlier.

"Does he have a name?" Another man asked in a laugh, addressing Tim more than Tony. When Tony didn't answer right away, Tim figured he was expected to do so.

"Timothy McGee." The expected looks of disinterest, showing lack of recognition, appeared on all but one of their faces. The first man who spoke had an expression of mild surprise.

"McGee? Alameda High, class of '94?" All color drained from Tim's face as Tony looked to him in confusion, wondering how his contact knew when and where Tim had graduated high school. The man chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Amy Curtis is my cousin. I hear about you at every family reunion, Timothy McGee."

Tim let out a groan, hanging his head as blood rushed back to his face to give it the pink tint of embarrassment. He remembered Amy Curtis and knew exactly what this man heard at every family reunion. It wasn't a story he wanted Tony finding out, but it looks like he was going to find out anyway.

"I have a feeling you know something about my partner that I don't, Darren." Tony stated, turning back to the man. Darren tilted his head in amusement, letting out a wicked grin.

"Oh, just that my uncle caught your partner here 'tutoring' my cousin in Anatomy when they should have been working on Calculus. According to my aunt, he ran out of the house like the devil was after him with my uncle close behind." Darren's acquaintances burst out into laughter, Tony barely hiding his own. There was a twinkle in his eye, telling Tim that an interrogation was in his future.

"Perhaps I should have stayed home..." Tim began, trying to save the last bit of his dignity.

"Oh, don't say that." Darren cut in before Tim could say anything else, still grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "DiNozzo is right. Being stuck to a computer sucks. And I don't have a problem calling someone with enough guts as you do a friend. You were the only one daring enough to fool around with my cousin while her father was still in the house, after all."

Tim remained silent at that. His own actions apparently vouched for him. It was a bit twisted but he would take what he could get.

"McGee here has a vested interest in that information I asked for. Manage to get it?" Tony stepped in, getting things back on track. The man who asked for Tim's name pulled out a flash drive from the inside pocket of his jacket, setting it on a nearby crate.

"Full background check of one Colin Murphy. Care to share why you're so interested in him?" Darren prodded. Tony smirked, shaking his head.

"You know I can't tell you details about ongoing investigations." Darren gave him an innocent expression.

"Had to ask. One of these times you might tell." Shaking his head, Tony walked over to the crate and picked up the flash drive before slipping it into his own pocket.

"What's this going to cost me?"

"There's two folders on that flash drive. One with the background check and one with some evidence." Tim rose an eyebrow at 'evidence', gaining Darren's notice. "There's someone new trying to break their way into our...business. They're causing more trouble than they're worth. We need them gone. Getting rid of our nuisance will be your way of paying off the debt of Murphy's background check."

"Not to mention us arresting them keeps your hands clean." Tim noted, earning a few chuckles from the unnamed men.

"Precisely. You'd be working either way, so we figured we'd be nice and not dump a murder on your hands."

"How considerate of you." Tim commented, feeling a bit braver.

"It kinda shuts the door on future favors from you guys. Believe me, it's us covering our own asses." Darren said in return.

"Same with us, which is why we won't be personally taking the guy down." Tony injected. "We'll pass the information along to someone who can. They can file it as an anonymous tip, leaving no trail back to any of us. In the mean time, McGee and I will make sure that Murphy's profile is put to good use."

"You'd better hurry. Word might get back to Murphy that you're asking around about him. One of our sources of information could be a bit more willing to blab than we'd like, but we unfortunately can't do anything about it at the moment." Darren warned Tim and Tony.

"We'll deal." Tony waved off the warning. "We better get going before we get a call to head into work. Catch you later."

"Yes. Later. McGee, DiNozzo can tell you how to get a hold of us. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything. After all, friends help each other." Tim nodded in recognition of Darren's instructions before following after Tony, who had already started walking towards the exit.

They both remained silent until they were back in Tony's car. Tim was unsure of what to say at first. The entire experience of meeting Tony's contacts was a bit surreal.

"Forget the rest of my contacts. I'm starting on Colin Murphy today." Tony announced. "No telling how quick word will get back to him."

"Keep details about this close to the chest, Tony. Sacks will be pissed if details leak to any of the families." Tim said.

"This _isn't_ a leak. It's just a...small mishap. It can be salvaged. If the families think we're only looking into the Murphy Family then the others may make a mistake. Mistakes provide us a way in to take them down." Tony got a bit defensive, hitting the gas a tad hard as they got onto the main roadway away from the warehouse.

"Relax, Tony. You're right. This can be salvaged. The Irish have been quiet so you looking in on Colin may be ignored as SOP on our part. The primary concern of the operation is the French and Russian families, anyway." Tim placated his partner. "I'm just saying that Sacks will use anything to get you in trouble so we should keep this amongst ourselves. Ziva won't see an issue and Gibbs will see the opportunity this provides."

"You're right. Slacks would only use this as ammo. Keeping it inside Team Gibbs is our only option." Tony relented with a small groan.

"Look, let's just focus on the job at hand. Head back to my apartment so we can look over the contents of that flash drive on a computer not connected to NCIS."

"You don't honestly think they'd put a virus on it, do you?" Tony asked in a disbelieving tone.

"No, but we should separate the contents on the flash drive so the evidence we're passing along doesn't leave a trace on either of our work computers. Plausible deniability, should our computers ever be searched in the future." Tim explained.

"I'll just trust you know what you're talking about when it comes to our computers. To your apartment we go." Tony turned the steering wheel, changing course to go back to Tim's apartment.


	7. Author's Note

**I apologize to anyone who was expecting another chapter update. That is not what this is.**

**I, unfortunately, had an unexpected death in the family so I will not be posting any chapters for any of my stories until after the funeral. I need to focus on being with family right now. I cannot provide an exact date for when I'll be posting again but I do hope I can soon.**

**Until further notice, the following stories are on hold:**

_Poison Ivy_

_Future History_

_Nomenclature_

_Apparitions_

**I do hope all my readers are understanding and are willing to wait while I work with my family through this difficult time.**

**-Bushy**


	8. Sunday Brunch

**A/N:** I'm glad you all have been so understanding with having to wait longer than usual for an update to my stories. While the ideas are in my head, it's been a bit difficult to make the transition from thinking the chapters up to typing them out in a word document.

School has been rather busy, meaning I don't have as much time for writing. Homework _does_ get priority. I could probably get about one chapter for one story out a week (at the low end) if I made writing time fit into my schedule. Even if I am unable to do that, I will do my best to update _all_ my stories with some type of regularity.

_If it seems like I've been neglecting one particular story more than usual, please feel free to point it out in a PM. I'll do my best to make sure that story gets a new chapter as soon as possible._

* * *

Jeanne lounged back on the patio chair she was on, taking a long sip of the blackberry and mint lemonade Vivian had brought out for her. She had been thinking over what Mickey had said to her a few days previous, simultaneously having to avoid questions from Bridget. It wasn't that Jeanne didn't trust Bridget to keep quiet about her wanting to contact Tony again. It was just that if she spilled about Tony, Jeanne would inevitably spill about Mickey's request and it was crucial that she didn't do that.

"Jeanne, Patrick is nearly finished with lunch. Would you like to eat in the dining room, or out here on the patio?" Vivian interrupted Jeanne's train of thought.

"I'll come in and eat with the others." Jeanne slid off the patio chair into a fluid move to stand up. "What has Patrick made today?"

"He roasted up some chickens and made various side dishes to choose from. Even made a small batch of that cranberry jelly you like." Vivian fluttered around Jeanne, fixing the cushions on the patio chair as she answered Jeanne's question. "I hear you've decided to stay a bit longer. Don't want to go home yet?"

"I figured that I could do with an extended vacation. I was thinking about asking Bridget if she wanted to do a weekend in New York. You know, have a girl's weekend. It can be annoying having so many guys around."

"That sounds like a splendid idea! I'm sure Bridget would agree to that." Vivian smiled, leading the two of them back into the house. "As much as she adores all her older brothers, I think Bridget sometimes wishes she were an only child."

"Fredrick treats her as such." Jeanne snickered.

"True." Vivian admitted.

The two of them reached the main dining room and Vivian opened the door for Jeanne before heading off to check on things in the kitchen. Jeanne wandered in, immediately enveloped in the dull roar from the various conversations everyone was having. It was quite clear that most of the family had put in the effort to be at lunch today. A high pitched giggled grabbed Jeanne's attention, and as she turned towards the source she noticed that Mickey had managed to make it. He was between Colin and Bridget, leaning across the table to say something to Margaret, the second oldest Murphy child after Morgan. Letting out a frown, Jeanne made her way around the table to where he was sitting.

"Mickey Murphy, just what do you think you are doing here without greeting me?" She scolded him. He turned from his discussion with Margaret to give Jeanne a cheeky grin.

"I thought I was here for Sunday brunch. I guess I was mistaken. I'll leave." He began to stand up but was immediately dragged back down by Bridget tugging on his arm.

"Oh, no, you don't! You finally made time to come on a Sunday. You're staying." Bridget gave him a pout, making her siblings chuckle at her manipulation. Rolling her eyes, Jeanne hugged Mickey from behind and took the empty seat on the other side of Bridget.

"Hey, Bridget." The young woman turned her attention from Mickey to Jeanne. "I may be staying longer but I'm starting to feel crowded by all the guys. You want to do a girl's weekend somewhere? Maybe New York?"

Mickey gave Jeanne a look over Bridget's head as she made her suggestion. She pointedly ignored it, focusing on Bridget's answer.

"That's a great idea! We can check out the plays on Broadway and get some serious shopping done. When did you want to go?" Bridget nodded in enthusiasm.

"Does this coming weekend sound good? I'm not sure my patience with the boys will last longer than that, and Vivian won't appreciate having to hide bodies." Colin leaned forward to give Jeanne a pout of his own as his sisters burst into laughter.

"Hey, I resent that, Benoit."

"Then learn to behave better." Jeanne shot back.

"This weekend is perfect. I have an event for school coming up in a couple weeks. I can buy a dress for it in New York." Bridget managed to get out in between giggles. She turned to Mickey with a smile. "Expect tons of texts containing pictures. I'm gonna need a guy's opinion on my choices."

"Duly noted. I'll notify everyone else not to call or text me at all this coming weekend so my phone doesn't get overloaded." Bridget immediately smacked Mickey on the arm for his cheek, continuing the humorous atmosphere.

"Jeanne, darling." Penelope called for her attention to the far end of the table. "A package arrived for you earlier. I had Mark bring it up to your room."

"Really? Thanks. Did it say who it was from?" Jeanne wondered who could possibly know she was staying at the Murphy household, aside from a few friends and family members.

"Not that I remember, no. Just a return address that I didn't recognize."

"Ok. I'm sure I'll know once I open it." Penelope hummed in agreement.

"If it's a surprise package then it's most likely a gift. That's how I would view it, anyway." The older woman gave Jeanne a mischievous smile, making her husband roll his eyes.

"I will remember that when I open it, Penelope." Jeanne assured her with a smile. Turning to the empty plate in front of her, Jeanne began to fill it with some of the food closest to her before lifting the plate and reaching across Bridget to hand it to Mickey. "Could you please put some of the potato casserole on my plate, Mickey?"

"Sure, Jeanne." Mickey took the plate so he could scoop some of the requested casserole onto it without risking dropping globs all over the tablecloth. "So, Jeanne, now that we actually have time to talk..."

"Yes?" Jeanne thinned her eyes out at the too-innocent expression he put on his face.

"Dating anyone you haven't told us about?" He put on a pair of doe eyes as he handed her plate back to her, pointedly ignoring the others who had immediately turned their attention towards Jeanne when they heard his question.

"No. I'm not." She hissed with a glare. Jeanne wondered what the hell Mickey was doing, asking her something like that. He _knew_ she was contemplating contacting Tony again.

"Oh." Mickey continued in an airy tone, shoving a small amount of mashed potatoes into his mouth. "Just wondering. It would only be fair for the mystery guy to get the 'Big Brother Talk' if you _were_ dating somebody. Amy's current boyfriend, Levi, got it just the other day."

"Even if I was, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself in a relationship." Jeanne let out in an even tone. Now it was clear. Mickey was _warning_ her of exactly what he was planning to do if she got back with Tony. Well, he'd get Colin to do it for him since he couldn't exactly let anyone know who he was and Colin would follow Mickey's instructions to the letter, but that was beside the point. Mickey intended to do to Tony what he hadn't been able to do last time.

"Just give in to it." Bridget interrupted before Mickey could reply. "I can't even bring in a male _friend_ without the poor guy getting interrogated by everyone, from Daddy all the way down to Mark. Like the guys are going to let a _boyfriend_ get away without being spoken to."

"We just need to judge whether or not the little twits deserve you." Colin stated as if that was a logical reason for the Murphy men to scare the crap out of any guy who walked through the front door.

"I don't care." Jeanne leaned forward to throw a stern look Colin's way. "I can handle myself."

"Jeanne, the last time you dated someone without bringing him in to meet the guys you ended up accusing him of murdering your father." Margaret spoke up. The air of the room immediately tensed as Jeanne and Mickey both froze. Colin and Morgan, who was across from Colin and next to Margaret, instantly started letting out scathing remarks on what they wished they could have done to a certain NCIS Special Agent had their father not stopped them. Bridget let out a deep frown, staring at her plate as if it held the meaning of life and would tell her if she just concentrated on it long enough.

"Both of you shut it." Mickey snapped at Colin and Morgan, stopping their tirade mid-word. Glaring at the two of them, Mickey then turned his focus across the table. "That is an unfair assumption and you damn well know it, Margaret. Agent DiNozzo didn't kill Rene Benoit. Even _if_ Jeanne had introduced him to the rest of us, Rene still would have died and Jeanne still would have lashed out emotionally at DiNozzo."

"We could have discovered that he was using Jeanne long before she found out!" Margaret countered, defending her position.

"Yeah, because staying with Jeanne after Rene found him out was _definitely_ part of his job description." Mickey hissed back.

"And just what are you implying?" Colin inserted before Mickey and his older sister could get into a screaming match in the middle of Sunday brunch. The rest of his family had fallen silent as their voices rose, both of his parents visibly torn over whether or not to step in and stop the argument.

"Things don't add up." Mickey curtly replied, turning to look at Colin face-to-face. "We know what happened from Jeanne's point of view. We know what happened from Rene's point of view. My contacts have told us what happened inside NCIS while it was all happening. If you pay attention to what everyone told us, the sequence of events are out of order. Rene found out who DiNozzo was _before_ someone blew up DiNozzo's car. And the explosion, itself! Someone tried to kill _DiNozzo _and _Jeanne_, not Rene. Let's not forget NCIS' surprising leniency with Jeanne after she accused DiNozzo of killing her father, either! There is a shockingly large amount of events that focus on Jeanne, not her father, and every single time NCIS or someone in NCIS was pulling strings to keep her out of it."

Silence fell over the table as Mickey finally shared his thoughts on what happened between Jeanne and Tony DiNozzo. He had remained silent when it had happened, preferring to focus on Jeanne instead of the situation, but it was obvious to everyone that he was seeing something they weren't.

"Mickey..." Jeanne croaked, breaking the silence. "What are you getting at?"

Mickey turned to her with a sigh, his internal debate showing through his eyes. He had contacts who were able to get him loads more information than what the others were able to get. His extensive abilities with computers also helped, seeing as how he was more willing to hack into things than Colin was despite the both of them having gone to school for it.

"Not everything is what it seems to be. That's all I'm saying, Jeanne." Mickey finally said. "After hacking into NCIS' files, it became clear to me that Director Sheppard had a lot more to do with your father than Agent DiNozzo did. He was a pawn in Director Sheppard's plans. After going over his file while I still access to the NCIS mainframe, it wasn't hard for me to come to the conclusion that a man like DiNozzo doesn't say the phrase 'I love you' lightly."

Frowning, Jeanne swallowed hard as she thought over Mickey's words. It wasn't often that he admitted to hacking into something. Normally he only did it when he knew there was information to be found. And, obviously, he found it. He just wasn't sharing it. Nodding slightly, she returned to her food as silence returned to the table. Jeanne made a mental note to question Mickey later.


	9. Horrifying Discoveries

**A/N:** Yay! Another chapter! Christmas break is coming up for me soon, so I'm about to have a lot of time for writing. I should be able to get at least two chapters in that time frame since the break between the Winter and Spring semesters is about a month. Looking forward to getting them done!

EarthDragon, you are correct. Mickey _does_ seem to be rather nice, unlike what you would expect from a hit man. Remember, though, that I've only been showing him around other Murphy's and Jeanne. These are people he considers family and is very close to them all (with the exception of Bridget, who he obviously sees in a romantic light).

Though, you are also correct about the fact that his manners are what makes him so good at his job. As I shared in an earlier chapter, Mickey introduces himself by his _actual_ name and lulls his targets into a false sense of security before disabling them and revealing who he is. No one, outside blood members of the Murphy Family and Jeanne, know what Mickey's real identity is. His revelation after disabling his targets tells them that they are about to die.

* * *

"Mickey certainly isn't Colin's buddy from work at the pizza place. The man died six years ago in a car accident." Tony spoke up absentmindedly.

"Colin's boss from the hardware store is definitely too old to do what Mickey has done." Ziva reported her own findings. The two of them, along with McGee, were going down the list of all of Colin Murphy's known associates from the time he graduated high school up to now. Ziva borderline begged McGee to help when he informed her of the results of Tony's actions and he was unable to deny her. McGee's silence at their updates, though, was out of place and forced both of them to look up from their computers.

"Tim?" Tony asked hesitantly. McGee was staring at his computer screen with a look of abject horror, his hands slightly shaking as they hovered over his keyboard. It was a look neither of them had seen on the man's face before and it was making them both uneasy. "What did you find?"

"I...I...I..." Tim stuttered. He all of a sudden shook his head violently before turning his full body away from his computer to face Tony, his whole body still shaking. "Did you know that I graduated from MIT with _five_ Colin Murphy's? Every large class has that one name that seems to repeat a lot, be it a first, last, or full name. Colin Murphy was the repeat name for both my graduating classes at MIT."

His partners froze at McGee's sudden desire to share that bit of information. That he was sharing it now, of all times, did not bode well.

"What about it, McGee?" Ziva spoke up next.

"I was friends with one of them." Tim replied before either Ziva or Tony to ask another question. They seemed to realize that Tim's horror at the information he had discovered was about to lead into a full out rambling session. "He was in the dorm across from mine every single year. Our entire group of friends was like that, actually. Our group formed that first year after we moved into our dorms, which were all clustered together at the end of one of the hallways, and we all petitioned to keep dorm rooms near each other every year after that. Out of all my friends, though, I considered myself closest with Colin. He was the only one with a younger sister so he was the only one who was able to understand my train of logic part of the time. I've remained in contact with him, actually. We buy small birthday and Christmas gifts for each other, spoil each other's little sisters, regularly help each other with coding issues..."

"Tim, what are you trying to say?" Tony asked slowly and deliberately when the other man trailed off, a new look of intense horror appearing on his face. "Are you saying that your friend from MIT, Colin Murphy, is the very same Colin Murphy we're investigating?"

McGee turned his chair back to face his computer with a jerk, remaining silent as he started at the screen as if it had literally destroyed the world. Tony exchanged a look with Ziva when their partner didn't say anything. That explained Tim's reaction. While the world didn't actually end, Tim's world was just overturned.

"I have been completely blindsided." McGee whispered. Tony shot up out of his desk and walked over to Tim's when he heard that, glancing at the computer screen to see that Tim had been going through Colin Murphy's college records before turning his full attention to Tim.

"You will _not _be tearing yourself up over that, Tim." Tony insisted. "So you went to school with Colin Murphy. You're friends. That _does not_ mean you have done anything wrong."

"Haven't done anything wrong?" Tim shrieked, turning back to Tony. Ziva jumped up from her seat to go join the two of them at Tim's desk, sensing that Tony was going to need a bit of help calming the Junior Agent. "Did you not just hear me? Colin and I _regularly _help each other with coding. What if I unknowingly helped him do something illegal?! I could be an accessory to treason, for all I know!"

"What?" All three of the NCIS agents turned to look at Sacks and Fornell in surprise at their sudden appearance. Sacks was the one who spoke up and was now walking towards them. "What are you going on about, McGee?"

"McGee has discovered that the Colin Murphy he went to school with and is friends with is the same Colin Murphy we are investigating." Ziva replied when Tim began stuttering over his syllables in his effort to answer.

"Yes, we knew that." Sacks said as if it should have been obvious.

"You _knew_?!" McGee hissed, standing up. "You knew and you didn't say anything?! _I_ didn't know!"

"McGee, we've been investigating the Murphy Family for quite some time. We've done extensive background checks on all the known members." Sacks started in a quiet tone, trying to placate his NCIS counterpart in the operation. "We knew you and Colin Murphy were friends at MIT and maintain a friendship. We even did a background check on you when we found that out. It quickly became obvious that you, like many others, were kept blind to the actions of the Murphy Family, and Fornell and I had your connection to the Family buried when it became clear you didn't know anything."

"Oh, you _buried_ it." Tim shot back in a scathing tone. "To protect my career, no less, I'm sure."

"Actually, yes." Fornell spoke up. "You'd already proven yourself as an agent here at NCIS when we took over the investigation into the Murphy Family. There was no need to undo all your hard work just because you unknowingly became friends with a member of the Irish Mob. _They_ kept you out of the loop, as well, despite having easy access to federal files in case you've forgotten."

"Think about it, McGee." Sack began again before Tim could reply to Fornell. "Colin has several siblings yet you have only met the two. Bridget and Morgan. Haven't you ever wondered about that?"

That made McGee pause. Sacks wasn't wrong. The only family members Colin introduced to his friends at MIT, not including his parents, were Bridget and Morgan. In hindsight, it was obvious why Colin only introduced those two siblings. Bridget was only ten at the time, so no worry about her blabbing about anything, and Morgan was twenty-five, clearly able to keep his mouth shut about certain things.

"I may have met Mickey Murphy." Tim stated, oddly calm after his panicked outburst.

"Which we can use to our advantage." Tony stepped in. No way was he going to let the FBI agents completely take over calming McGee down. "I mean, think about what I figured about Colin and Mickey's relationship. They're brotherly, aren't they? Kinda like you and me. Is there _anyone_ you can think of from school that Colin was like that with."

"Well, _me_." Tim said, turning to Tony. His irritation with Fornell and Sacks about keeping him in the dark about something like this would have to wait. "But my view is biased. Like I said, I considered myself closest with Colin out of all my friends at MIT. Colin very well could have acted brotherly with all of us. It's not an easy mannerism to get rid of. I, myself, catch myself acting like that with Ziva frequently. And as you know, when you're trying to keep a secret from people then you definitely don't do anything that could be considered out of the ordinary."

"Point taken. But what I said still remains true. If you are correct in your assumption that you have met Mickey Murphy then we simply have to compare your memories of Colin's other friends with what we know about Mickey."

"It will be easier than you think, McGee." Ziva said, taking over for Tony. "He will be someone like you, who is still in regular contact with Colin. We know Mickey Murphy is only known to a small group of people, the blood members of the Murphy Family and Jeanne Benoit, so he will have remained in contact with them."

Tim nodded, trying to remember the names of everyone he knew Colin was friends with during their time at MIT. The list of known associates basically included _everyone_ he interacted with and would not be of much help.

"Jeanne." Tony said suddenly, making the others turn to him with a questioning look. He grabbed Tim's arm to emphasize what he was about to say. "_Jeanne_, Tim. She knew Mickey Murphy long before anyone in the Murphy Family did. Try to remember if any of your friends spoke about traveling to France."

"A few of us were military brats, so it's plausible that one of them had stayed in France for a short period of time. I'll have to double check the records." No one name popped up in Tim's mind. He'd have to check them all. "I was the Navy Brat of the group. Two others were Army Brats. I can't quite remember if anyone in the group had a parent in the Marine Corp, but I know that four of the others had at least one parent that was in the Air Force."

"Seven of you?" Ziva's eyebrows rose up in amazement. Tim shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"Seven out of twenty is still less than half."

"There's twenty in your group of friends?!" Tony asked in surprise. He had expected no more than nine. That Tim was being nonchalant about it meant their aim of getting him to calm down was achieved, though, so he wasn't going to complain. Much.

"Trust me, Tony. When geeks congregate, they do so in large numbers. Or have you forgotten about the conventions I occasionally attend?"

"We will not get into that right now. You should be checking your friends' backgrounds."

"And _you_ should be continuing to check the others on the list of known associates." Tim shot back. "We cannot rule them out just yet."

Tony winced as McGee gave him the 'McEyebrow', as he called it, knowing that was an order and not a suggestion. Tony was only lucky enough that Tim wasn't abusing the power, like he would have. Giving Ziva a look, Tony spun on his heel and returned to his desk. Ziva did the same, leaving McGee to speak with Fornell and Sacks.

"Do not think I'm about to let you get away with keeping me in the dark about something like this." McGee thinned his eyes out at the two of them. Anger grew in the pit of his stomach at their actions, but he made sure to keep it internalized. He'd take it out on a punching bag in the gym later. "But that is a discussion for later. I don't feel like getting into an argument right now. What are you two doing here?"

"One of the French families, the Durand's, have suddenly fallen silent. They're the least likely to go after the Benoit's in a power struggle, but it's still suspicious since they're friendly with the McCarthy Family. We were wondering if you've heard anything about _them_." Sacks informed McGee.

"McCarthy's are still working like clockwork. They're continuing business as if the mess the French are threatening to create won't ever happen. We aren't finding anything on them that isn't already in the files you guys sent over."

"Figures..." Fornell muttered. Tim eyed him for a few seconds before pointing at the back elevator.

"Gibbs is down in Abby's lab." Sacks barely hide his look of amusement when his boss immediately headed towards the elevator in question before giving McGee a bemused look. "Our discussion will be moving to Cyber Crimes. Do you really want to listen to Fornell grumble the entire time about how we're losing the reality of solving a case by no longer fully depending on field work?"

"Not really, no." Sack shook his head slightly.

"Alright, then. Tony, Ziva, keep on the list of known associates. I'll work on backgrounds of my classmates when Sacks and I return from Cyber Crimes." Tim was barely finished speaking when he started heading to the back elevator, confident that Fornell had enough time to get to Abby's lab. Sacks followed closely behind.

"Expecting another update?"

"Not really, but it won't do any harm to check in ahead of time. Also going to be telling the techs I set on the McCarthy Family to look into the family's relationship with the Durand's. If they have little reason to go quiet, as you suspect, then we gotta focus on their primary ally." Sacks tilted his head in recognition of that logic.

"Can't argue that. I can call in any new information to my own techs back at the Hoover Building." Tim nodded at that, smirking slightly.

"See? Even when I panic, I can keep things running smoothly. Remember that the next time you're told to arrest one of my team mates." Tim couldn't resist the dig, chuckling when he saw Sacks' head dropping with a groan in the corner of his eye.

"Can we just focus on the operation at this point in time?" Sacks would deny vehemently later on that his tone was _not_ a begging one, but at the moment he just didn't want to get into an insulting contest with the one person in NCIS he could get along with. If the FBI was going to be working with NCIS in the future, and knowing Fornell they would be, Sacks wanted at least one person he could retreat to so he didn't kill DiNozzo.

"Fine." Tim let his chuckle form into a proper laugh just as the elevator arrived at the sub-basement.


	10. Updates and Promises

**A/N: **Chapter time! My last day of the semester is the 10th. Then I'll be free until nearly the end of January! Let's get looking forward for some writing!

You all have been speculating on who Mickey could possibly be, working off the meager clues that I've been giving you, and that's awesome. I want to keep you all guessing until the big climax of the story. I'd just like to remind you all that if you have a _specific_ guess you'd like to make, please PM it to me instead of putting it in a review. I am more than happy to exchange PMs with you guys.

Enjoy the latest chapter!

* * *

Mickey sat at his usual place at the end of the table, quietly listening to the updates the others were making to Fredrick. Everyone's contacts were giving them contradictory reports and it was causing hell. No one knew which reports to trust and which contacts to throw out on their asses.

"Also, Colin, I'm hearing whispers that Special Agent Tony DiNozzo at NCIS requested a very thorough background on you." One of the many minor lieutenants that Mickey never paid attention to spoke up.

"I knew that already, Trevor." Colin sighed, slouching back in his chair. "Can't say that I give a damn. He's not going to find anything that the FBI don't already have on me."

"I heard the same." Another faceless man spoke up. "It's been mentioned that NCIS is going through you to discover Mickey's identity."

"They won't find anything." Colin repeated. He threw a glance in Mickey's direction, slightly frowning when Mickey didn't look up from his cold stare at the table top. "Mickey and I have scrubbed our backgrounds thoroughly."

"Double check." Fredrick ordered plainly. The sudden onslaught of misinformation was beginning to become overwhelming. He was beginning to get tired of it.

"What about the other thing that NCIS found out?" Trevor asked, finally causing Mickey to look up.

"And what is that?" Mickey asked. Mickey's sudden injection into the discussions had everyone turning to look at him, Trevor taking on a slightly horrified look. He wasn't a blood member of the Murphy Family, like most of the others in the room. He was only standing in for a superior that needed to maintain his cover at his 'legit' job by attending a charity event. This night was the first time Trevor had ever met Mickey and Trevor knew he'd never see the man again. He wasn't really supposed to know what Mickey looked like.

"They...they..." Trevor began to stutter, Mickey's reputation causing him to hesitate. "They found out that Special Agent Timothy McGee went to MIT with Colin. That they're still in contact with each other."

Mickey remained silent, turning his stoical gaze towards Colin.

"I'll deal with it." Was all Colin would say in response to Mickey's look. The declaration was a bit redundant, the two of them had already known about NCIS' discovery, but they needed to say something in front of all the others to show that they were going to handle it. Trevor just _had_ to blabber about it. The man was just a plain, old fashioned idiot, though, so they'd leave him alone. "It's not going to be much of an issue, anyway. The FBI discovered that link a while ago and they didn't do anything about it."

"They'll still try to use it to their advantage." Mickey pointed out.

"Like I said. I'll deal with it." Colin threw Mickey a smirk. "What about _your_ little project?"

"It is going about as well as I would expect it to." Mickey's thoughts immediately went back to his and Jeanne's discussion about DiNozzo. He needed to help her deal with that before even thinking about suggesting to her that she name her father's successor.

"Keep working on it." Fredrick said, running a hand over his face. "We're done here. Nothing is going to get done until we deal with the chaos our contacts are making."

Trevor was the first one to react to the dismissal, pointedly making sure he did _not_ look back at Mickey as he left. Other minor lieutenants made their way out the door before only the actual Murphy men remained.

"You're seriously not worried about DiNozzo?" Scott, Colin's second oldest brother, broke the silence.

"Nope." Colin straightened his posture in his chair. "The man may be a wild card in comparison to his fellow agents but he's surprisingly predictable. He'll end up doing the very same things the FBI did."

"We should be more worried about the Durand's. We haven't heard a peep out of them for over a week." Mickey guided the discussion away from DiNozzo. There was no need to let the others worked up about him just yet.

"True." Fredrick confirmed. "The other families are expressing concern about the Durand's mysterious silence. Do we know what the Durand's did before they cut themselves off from everyone? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"No, Pops. Reports about them have been stating that business was going on as usual for them before they went quiet. Whatever their reason, it's something internal." Colin replied.

"I want you boys to try and find out. I'm not liking the situation we're being put in." Fredrick stood up and walked out, leaving his children to figure out how they were going to get what he wanted.

* * *

"I'm glad you and Bridget are heading to New York today." Jeanne looked up from her bag with a frown.

"Well, hello to you, too, Mickey." She muttered as she went back to her packing.

"I'm serious, Jeanne. Shit's about to go down. I can just feel it." Mickey settled himself on her bed, leaning against the headboard. "Someone is going to get hurt."

"Don't let anything happen to Tony." Jeanne turned her attention to Mickey again, her eyes begging him. "I...I've made the decision to reach out to him again when Bridget and I get back. I don't wanna return to find out he's dead."

"Jeanne, relax." Mickey was quick to placate her. "Nothing is going to happen to him. I'd be more worried about Colin doing something stupid. We're entering the calm before the storm. Colin is going to be more difficult to control than usual."

Jeanne acknowledged the statement with a nod, lowering her head once again. The two of them remained silent as Jeanne finished packing her weekend bag, tossing it in the direction of the bedroom door once she was done. Wringing her hands in worry, she joined Mickey on her bed.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Mickey threw an arm over Jeanne's shoulders with a wry smirk.

"There's going to be an altercation. Either between us and the Feds or us and one of the other families. My gut is telling me it's most likely gonna be the latter. Some people who are usually loud and obnoxious have gone quiet, making the rest of us go on high alert. The tension has to break some time."

"You don't seem overly worried." Jeanne commented with a frown.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not. Not about anyone getting killed, at any rate. I can handle one of the guys getting a short stay in the hospital. It's inevitable. But you and Bridget getting sent there? Not so much... Which brings me back to my original statement. I am glad you and Bridget are heading to New York today." Mickey pressed a kiss onto Jeanne's temple, squeezing his arm in a half hug. "Be sure to send me lots of pictures when you two get around to dress shopping."

"Mickey." Jeanne whacked his chest, glaring at the innocent expression he was giving her. "Bridget and I are not going shopping for your entertainment."

"I beg to differ." That earned Mickey a harder whack, making him lean forward slightly in pain as his lungs echoed in a loud thud. "Ok. Ok. Fine. You two are going shopping for no one but your pretty, little selves. Just stop hitting me."

"Baby." Jeanne rolled her eyes as Mickey rubbed his chest to make the stinging go away.

"I'll happily be a baby if it gets you to stop hitting me." He whined back.

"You'll let me know if anything does happen?" Jeanne chose to switch back to the more serious topic. It pulled a heavy sigh out of Mickey.

"Of course I will, Jeanne. I won't leave you in the dark." Mickey pressed another kiss to Jeanne's temple. He knew him coming in to check on her before she left was going to keep her on edge all weekend, but Mickey would rather Jeanne be like that than blindsided by a surprise phone call in the middle of the night telling her and Bridget to come home. Not to mention it had the added benefit of Jeanne being more understanding when he finally got around to approaching her about her father's successor.


	11. Visitation

**A/N:** Yay! The semester is over! Freedom from school until next month.

Thank you all, so much, for continuing to read my stories. I'm getting notification emails all the time, telling me I've gained another follower. It's just so excited to get those emails! It tells me my writing is actually good and I should continue.

Enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

Tony looked at his calendar longingly every time he had a pause in his work. Not because it was Monday. He, like everyone else, generally hated Mondays. No, he looked at his Page-a-Day calendar longingly because it was declaring that is was April 1st in bold text, almost mocking him because he _knew_ he couldn't pull any pranks this year. Tim's suggestion from a couple weeks ago aside, there was just too much going on with the operation for him to take the time.

"For crying out loud, Tony." Tim hissed across the Bull Pen. "If I promise to let you out a bit early tonight, will it get that damn mopey look off your face?"

"But it's April Fool's Day, Tim!" Tony cried back, ignoring the snickers Ziva wasn't exactly hiding.

"I know that, Tony. I am painfully aware of this date every single year since the day I met you. But if you don't stop moping, I'm going to take my stapler and stick that damn calendar page to your forehead." Tony scooted his chair a little further away from Tim, giving the other man a wary look.

"You have been spending too much time with Ziva." He muttered, going back to his work. Tim and Ziva exchanged looks of satisfied amusement before turning back to their own work. The silence didn't last for long, though, as the elevator dinged a few minutes later.

Having the elevator in his general line of sight, Tony was the first one to look up when the new arrival made their way towards the desks. His jaw dropped slightly in shock when he recognized the person, freezing in his seat. Tim let out a sigh of annoyance, taking Tony's pause in typing as him moping again, and turned to snap at him when he noticed the new arrival as well. Ziva looked up just as the person arrived at the team's work area and barely restrained a double take.

"Miss Benoit." Tim stood up to greet Jeanne before Tony or Ziva could say anything, walking to the middle of the desk area. "This is an unexpected surprise."

"I know, Agent McGee. I know my father's..._group_ is being investigated and I know all the others are being investigated as well. Agent Kort's offer of protection made that perfectly clear." Jeanne stopped a few steps away from Tim, adjusting her purse strap over her shoulder before clutching it tightly. "That's not why I'm here, though."

"May I inquire as to why, then? The last time NCIS crossed paths with you, things didn't exactly end well." Jeanne winced slightly at the reminder of her accusations that Tony had killed her father, mirroring Tony's own wince.

"The second reason why I'm here is to play messenger." Jeanne pulled an envelope out of the outside pocket of her purse, handing it over to Tim. He held it delicately by the edges, raising an eyebrow in expectation for Jeanne to explain. "It's from Colin Murphy. He said he would have come to speak with you in person, but recent events are preventing him from doing so. He didn't explain to me what he meant by that."

"I have an idea..." Tim trailed off, lightly dropping the envelope on his desk. He'd have Abby open it for him down in the lab. "Your first reason?"

"Is personal." Jeanne's eyes darted to her right as she fidgeted slightly. Tim's own eyes went in that direction, connecting with Tony's confused ones. Tim went back and forth between Tony and Jeanne before making a decision.

"Tony, take your lunch break."

"Wait, what?" Tony asked. Tim barely held in a sigh before repeating himself.

"Take. Your. Lunch. Break. Don't come back for at least an hour. There isn't much for you to do at the moment, anyway."

"But I..." Tony began to say, pointing at his computer, but went silent at the look Tim sent his way. Replaying the dialogue of the last couple minutes in his head, Tony realized that Tim was telling him to take _Jeanne_ out to lunch to get her out of the building. Nodding, Tony got up and began to collect his things. Tim turned back to Jeanne with a small smirk.

"Do try not to get Tony's car blown up this time. I don't think he could handle losing another Mustang." He quipped. Jeanne thinned her eyes out in irritation, turning away from Tim with a small huff.

"Tony, you don't have to..." Jeanne started. Tony held up a hand to get her to stop talking.

"We _do_ have a long overdue conversation we need to have, Jeanne. We should take the chance while McGee is willing to let me leave work." Jeanne looked back and forth between Tony and Tim, as if to make sure Tony really _did_ want to come with, before nodding in agreement. Tim and Ziva watched in silence as Tony guided Jeanne back to the elevator and waited for the elevator doors to close.

"Why did you send Tony out to lunch with her?" Ziva hissed.

"I have several reasons. So I no longer have to deal with his moping. To give everyone a Tony-free, _silent_ hour. To appease her, since she came all this way to speak with him. To get her out of the Navy Yard so I can take that letter straight down to Abby. Pick one." Tim spat back. He didn't want to deal with Ziva's latent jealousy over Jeanne. She and Tony had an attraction for each other, yes, but it was no different than him and Abby. It wouldn't actually work. Tim restrained himself from snatching the envelope off his desk, carefully picking it up by the edges again, and headed straight to the rear elevator. He heard Ziva rush to follow him as her chair banged into her filing cabinet.

* * *

"So she _hand delivered_ this?" Abby asked in a tone of disbelief as she slowly undid the seal of the envelope with an exact-o knife. Tim nodded from his place on the other side of the evidence table.

"Yes. It simply confirms what we already know. Jeanne Benoit is friends with the Murphy Family. I'm more concerned about what Colin has to say. And what could possibly be inside that envelope."

"Aren't you friends with him, McGee?" Gibbs asked with a slight tone of sarcasm.

"That's debatable at this point in time, Gibbs, but it's not Colin I'm doubting." Tim kept his eyes on the envelope as Abby put her knife down and carefully pulled the sheet of paper out of it. "Attacking from afar isn't his style..."

"You believe one of the others may do something." Ziva commented.

"Possibly. I'm not willing to risk it, though."

"Here you go..." Abby interrupted the discussion, flattening out the letter for Tim so he could read it. "No powder. No hairs. I'll dust it for prints after you're done reading it."

"Thank you, Abby." Tim slipped on a pair of latex gloves before picking the paper up. He cleared his throat before beginning to read it out loud. "Tim. I know that you have discovered about our unfortunate clashing career choices from a few blabbering contacts. I apologize, but it can't be helped. Look at the bright side. I valued your friendship in college far too much to even try to recruit you. Using my own background history to try and identify Mickey was a clever idea. I'll grant Agent DiNozzo that. But I implore you to stop going that route. While Mickey and I are finding the situation quite humorous, because we know you won't succeed, people outside my family may not be so entertained. Not to say they aren't also interested in finding out who Mickey really is. Many people are, not just you Feds. But they'll be more focused on the fact that two federal agents are the ones doing the digging."

"I know about the CIA's offer to Jeanne Benoit to give her protection against all this shit the French Families are pulling, including her father's own group, but do not think her denial of federal protection is going to keep her safe. My family can only do so much and we definitely don't know who may use Jeanne's previous relationship with DiNozzo against her, nor who may try to use her to identify Mickey. Yes, I know about Agent Kort telling you about that as well. But that is beside the point. What I'm getting at here is that Jeanne Benoit is in an unfortunate position and she doesn't realize just how bad it is. Please do not use her friendship with me and my family against her, should she ultimately request that protection. You're too good a man, Tim, to sink that low. Even if it does have the potential of preventing you from doing part of your job. Happy hunting. Colin."

Tim set the letter down carefully as silence fell over the lab. There was an unspoken message between Abby, Gibbs, and Ziva that they had expected Colin to mock Tim in the letter, pulling him into a game of cat and mouse because of his discovery. They didn't expect Colin to warn Tim about the danger he was getting himself in to or reveal that he knew about certain details of their operation.

"I need to go see Tony and Jeanne." Tim suddenly said, standing up and ripping the latex gloves off at the same time.

"What do you mean?" Abby asked in a worried tone.

"You heard me read the letter, Abby. Colin has no reason to lie about stuff like that. A criminal he may be, but he wouldn't endanger an innocent like Jeanne. Keep on going over the evidence the FBI have given us in regards to the Irish Families. Ziva, move on to the McCarthy's for the time being. Identifying Mickey Murphy needs to be put on a back burner. Gibbs, just...keep doing what you and Fornell have been doing." Tim rattled off orders, hesitating once he got to Gibbs. He didn't actually _know_ what Gibbs had been doing. "I'm going to go check on Tony and Jeanne, and bring them back here if needed."

Gibbs let out an amused smirk as Tim went over everyone's duties, a bit proud that the younger man was handling his leadership position was well as he was. One of the primary reasons why Gibbs gave him the job in the first place was because they needed to work with other agencies and Tim had the best rapport with said agencies out of everyone on the team. It may be a lot to expect out of the young man, considering the fact that Tim had so much work to do with Cyber Crimes, but Vance had been pushing him to give Tim more chances at administrative duties. This was the best he could do, short of booting Tony off the team and giving Tim the Senior Field Agent position.

"Got it." Ziva nodded, showing she understood the logic behind Tim's orders. The FBI _was_, after all, hoping NCIS could find something where they could not.

"Will do. On it, Agent McGee, sir." Abby said with her usual sense of humor.

Happy that everyone was going to do as they were told, Tim quickly headed out of the lab.

* * *

Tim, predictably, found Tony and Jeanne at an Italian restaurant not far from the Navy Yard. He genuinely wondered which of them suggested the place, but pushed that thought to the back of his mind. Right now, he needed to focus on their safety.

"You told me an _hour_, McGee! It's been thirty minutes." Tony protested as Tim entered the small restaurant and approached their table. Tim ignored the frown Jeanne was giving him, feeling fully justified in his interruption. He was glad to see that they weren't at each others throats. They actually seemed a bit comfortable.

"I know, Tony, but something that Colin said in that letter gave me reason to come and check on you guys. Jeanne, do you know if _anyone_, other than Colin, knows about you coming to the Yard today?" Tim placated Tony before turning to question Jeanne.

"I only told Colin." Jeanne answered, confused. Tony froze at the question. It had to be a _very_ important reason if Tim couldn't ask that via text or phone call.

"He's the only one that knows. Are you _sure_?"

"Yes! I can't exactly say Colin was happy that I made plans to come today since I only got back from New York this morning, but he didn't argue against it. He promised to help me sneak out of the Manor if I agreed to bring that letter I gave you. Some of his siblings _definitely_ would have protested. Especially Morgan." Jeanne replied in irritation. Tim's insistence that she be absolutely sure was vexing and worrisome.

"McGee, what did the letter say?" Tony inquired to cut the tension growing between the two people in front of him.

"Confirmation of a few things we already know. That Colin felt compelled to warn me about them has me worried." Tim went on without giving any details. They were, after all, in public. "He also mentioned a few things we have considered but set off to the side for other things. I know I told you an hour, Tony, but I'd be more comfortable with the two of you coming back to the Yard."

"Tim..." Tony started.

He was interrupted by the front windows of the restaurant suddenly shattering, a hailstorm of bullets flying through and embedding themselves into the back wall. Patrons and staff, alike, let out horrifying screams at the sudden attack on the restaurant as they ducked and dove for cover. Tony reached across the table to grab Jeanne when she hesitated in acting, pulling her to the floor and covering her with himself as they were showered with bits of glass and wood from different directions. Tim barely covered his face in time to stop glass from getting into his eyes, crouching down to make himself a smaller target to the oncoming bullets.

When glass finally stopped flying, Tim uncovered his face to take in the situation around him. Whoever was outside was still shooting into the restaurant, but it appeared that they didn't have a definite target. Tim pulled Tony and Jeanne's table towards him to hide the two of them from anyone looking in the windows before making his way to the outside wall, staying crouched down and out of the shooters' aims. Tim rose up against a section of wall that was between two of the windows, pulling out his cell phone as he took quick glances on both sides.

"Boss! Greco's! Now!" Tim shouted over the gunshots, the background noise providing all the explanation Gibbs would need before Tim hung up.

"McGee!" Tony yelled from his place at the other side of the room. "How many?!"

"I counted at least six!" Tim pulled out his gun and flicked off the safety. "Stay down!"

A pause in the shooting on his right side provided Tim the chance to peak around the wall again and he took a shot at one of the men before taking cover again, hearing the satisfying sound of a man screaming in pain as Tim's bullet made itself at home in the man's shoulder. Tim's deadly game of Whack-a-Mole with him and bullets went on as he continued to take chances at shooting back, hoping to stall long enough for backup to arrive.

He managed to shoot three of the ultimate eight men when the sweet sound of sirens met his ears and he let out a sigh of relief as he slid down to the floor, back pressed against the wall. The sirens apparently reached the shooters' ears as well, because they stopped all at once and the air was soon filled with moans of pain, car doors slamming, and tires squealing. It was moments later when another car screeched to a stop and two more car doors slammed.

"McGee! DiNozzo!" Gibbs' yells had Tim scrambling to get back up, stepping in front of one of the windows to reveal himself.

"Boss..." Tim called Gibbs and Ziva in his direction. The patrons of the restaurant slowly began to stand up from their various hiding places when they realized that there wasn't going to be any more shooting.

"What happened?" Gibbs hissed in anger when he and Ziva reached the window.

"The few looks I managed to get of the shooters were pretty lacking. All I got for sure was that there was eight of them. If I had to guess, they were Russian." Tony and Jeanne approached as Tim summarized the situation, Jeanne shaking like a dying leaf trying to hang on to its tree in a wind storm. Tony pulled her close in a hug as he gave Tim a look of understanding.

"You weren't kidding about Murphy's warnings." Tony muttered.

"What did they want?!" Jeanne cried out, tears of fear brimming her eyes.

"Good question." Ziva commented, looking back and forth between her team mates.

"I'm calling Fornell. Like _hell_ there wasn't word about this out there." Gibbs snapped, walking away from the group as he pulled out his cell phone.

"Tony...?" Jeanne's voice warbled as she went closer to the brink of breaking down, causing Tony to hug her even tighter.

"Jeanne, everything is going to be ok. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"McCarthy's?" Tim turned his attention to Ziva, putting his focus on their job instead of the scene next to him.

"I asked Abby to set up a few searches for me after you left the Yard. No results when Gibbs and I left, but that is to be expected. They have no had much time to look." A different siren sound signaled the arrival of multiple ambulances, the police officers who arrived with Gibbs and Ziva going from patron to patron to see what the injuries were like.

"Understandable. Find the highest ranking officer and make it clear that NCIS will be taking control of the scene. I have my own call to make." Tim carefully stepped over the jagged frame of the window to put himself outside the building with Ziva.

"To who?" Ziva asked in curiosity. Them taking control was a given, so she didn't question it.

"Colin Murphy." Tim gave her a look of pseudo dread before walking off in a different direction from Gibbs.


	12. Phone Tag

**A/N: **It's been a while and I'm sorry. Not only were the holidays hectic, but I got sick right after Christmas and recently had my wisdom teeth removed. I didn't exactly trust myself to write anything coherent whiled drugged up with pain meds.

But the best apology is a new chapter, so here it is! Enjoy!

* * *

Colin hung up in irritation. Father was going to kill him. Someone, probably the Russians, nearly killed Jeanne. Yes, his father was going to kill him. One, for letting her go out alone in the first place. Two, because they should have _known_ that the Russians were planning something. And three, because Colin had known Jeanne wanted to go to NCIS to reconnect with DiNozzo. She didn't actually tell him she was going to the Navy Yard or planning to see DiNozzo when he talked her into delivering that letter for him, but Colin wasn't an idiot. Mickey never stood up for that man when he and Morgan got to ranting, yet Mickey did just that during the Sunday brunch he attended recently. Only reason why Mickey would do that was if Jeanne was involved.

Colin jumped when his phone started ringing, answering it without looking at the caller ID.

"Colin Murphy..." He hissed into the phone.

"_Colin, it's Mickey. What the hell were you thinking, letting Jeanne go out alone?!_" Scratch that thought. Colin's father wasn't going to kill him. Mickey was.

"I wasn't exactly in a position to stop her from going, Mickey. Least I could do was cover for her so the others didn't cause a ruckus because of her desire to see DiNozzo." Colin replied. There was silence on the other end of the line. "Yes, Mickey. I know that Jeanne is reaching out to DiNozzo. She didn't say anything to me about it but it was written all over her face when she left."

"_Well, she's alive and unharmed. That alone is probably what will save your ass when Pops finds out. DiNozzo is not going to let her out of his sight for a while, so expect her to be holed up at the Navy Yard for the moment."_ Mickey continued without making a comment about Colin knowing Jeanne's intentions. He didn't really need to. That Colin wasn't swearing at him about it said it all. "_My main concern about all this is that someone ordered a tail on Jeanne and we didn't know about it. From the looks of things, everything is going to hell in a __hand basket at both the Navy Yard and the Hoover Building. If we don't find out who did this before they do, we'll lose our advantage over the situation._"

"I'll get Scott on it before I go speak with Pops. He'll get things done the quickest."

"_Good. Now, I gotta go. I didn't have much time to make a phone call. Just long enough to get your reasoning for allowing this chaos to happen and figure out what you were going to do about it. Make sure you keep the table between you and Pops when you tell him."_ Mickey chuckled before hanging up, preventing Colin from retorting back. Ok, so Mickey wasn't going to kill him. That was a godsend. Back to worrying about his father.

* * *

"Bridget?" The red head looked up from the book she was reading, curled up in a wok chair in the manor library.

"Yes, Colin?" Bridget smiled at her favorite sibling. It wasn't often they crossed paths in the middle of the day anymore. Shoving her bookmark into the spine of the book to save her place, she closed it with a snap and set it on the table next to her as she stood up to walk to him.

"I...uh..." Colin fidgeted in his spot, hesitant to leave the doorway. His unusual behavior made Bridget stop mid-stride and give him elevator eyes. Colin was the cockiest of the Murphy children, which was saying something since most of her siblings were like that, so his unwillingness to go further than saying her name to grab her attention was making Bridget worry.

"Colin?" Bridget repeated his name. Something was wrong. She could tell. There were very few things that could have happened that would make Colin be the one to tell her and she didn't like any of her options.

"There was a shooting at the Italian restaurant Greco's earlier today." Colin got out, his eyes focusing on her anxiously.

"I know that already. It's all over the local news." Bridget relaxed slightly. It couldn't be too bad if Colin was telling her something she already knew about.

"Jeanne was there."

"What?!" Bridget shrieked, looking at her brother with abject horror. Colin let out a wince, not entirely comfortable in the position he had been 'volunteered' for. "Dear, god, is she ok?! Is she alive?!"

"Yes, yes, yes..." Colin immediately began to ramble as he finally stepped out of the doorway and towards his sister. "Jeanne is perfectly fine. She had gone to visit DiNozzo, who was with her, and he kept her safe."

"She went to visit DiNozzo?!" Bridget shrieked even louder. Colin briefly thought that his baby sister could put a banshee to shame and mentally growled at the amusement the rest of their siblings and their father were probably having at his expense. Surely they could hear the young woman screaming at him all throughout the manor.

"Yes. Jeanne went to see him. I came to tell you that she called and that we're probably not going to see her for a couple days because NCIS is going to want to keep her in protective custody until they find out why the restaurant was shot up."

"Oh, _protective custody_." Bridget drawled out with every ounce of sarcasm she was capable of procuring. "Because she's in such danger staying here at the manor."

"Pops isn't going to try and force her to come back!" Colin argued. "He says it's best to play nice with NCIS at the moment since Jeanne _had_ gone there willingly. He's suggesting that perhaps you should pack a weekend bag for her and deliver it to the Navy Yard. I would be going with you, of course."

Bridget let out a scream, spinning on her heel to begin pacing back and forth. She was beyond angry. She wasn't as out-of-the-loop as the rest of her family thought she was. Bridget knew that the 'family business' wasn't exactly legal. She knew that the constant meetings her father held were with people she probably wouldn't want to be caught in a dark alley with. Like Jeanne, Bridget was smart enough to see what was right in front of her without knowing the details.

"Where's Mickey?" Bridget hissed at Colin, not pausing in her pacing. If there was anyone who was willing to explain _exactly_ what was going on after being confronted, it was him. Mickey never kept her in the dark about anything after she directly asked him about it. Had been like that since she first met him back during his and Colin's college years.

"He's at work." Colin reported with some confusion.

"I want to know what he has to say about this...this...utter bullshit!" Bridget stopped mid-stride again to yell that final word in Colin's direction. A look passed through Colin's eyes after her statement registered in his brain. It was a look that most of her siblings gave her whenever she said something concerning Mickey, and it drove her _crazy_ because she could never figure out what it meant.

"I could call him, Bridget, but I doubt he would have long to talk."

"Call." Bridget nearly growled. Colin was quick to pull his phone out and hit his first speed dial. He didn't even wait to see if Mickey was even going to pick up before handing it over.

"_Yes?_" Mickey's voice came over the line. Apparently he had looked at his caller ID, because he didn't ask who it was.

"Mickey? What's going on? Colin is telling me Jeanne isn't going to be back home for a few days because of her being at Greco's with DiNozzo when the shooting happened." There was some muffled sounds coming from the other line, telling Bridget that Mickey was making excuses to a few nearby coworkers and walking away to find a secluded spot. She waited patiently until his voice reappeared.

"_NCIS is keeping Jeanne in protective custody until they can identify the people who shot up the restaurant, Bridget._"

"But _why_? Wouldn't she be safer back here at the manor?"

"_Probably. It would be a bad idea to argue that point at the moment, though. Jeanne went to NCIS to make amends with DiNozzo and if that man is anything he's protective. He's not going to let Jeanne leave until he knows she's safe. She's got her wish, as well, and now has the next few days to play nice with him._"

"Jeanne still loves him, doesn't she?" Bridget asked in a quiet voice. She felt a bit hurt that Jeanne didn't share the details with her, but she could understand why Jeanne went to Mickey. DiNozzo wasn't exactly well liked in the Murphy household.

"_Yes. Yes, she does._" Mickey paused briefly. "_I am not going to worry about Jeanne being at NCIS. Just pack a weekend bag for her and deliver it to the Navy Yard._"

"Already planning on that. Colin is going to be coming with me." That prompted another pause on the other end of the line.

"_You try and make sure Colin doesn't do anything that will get him arrested, Bridget. __Putting him face-to-face with DiNozzo at this point in time is risky. He didn't sound too angry about Jeanne's choice when I called him earlier but that doesn't mean he won't deck the man if given the chance._"

"Don't worry. I will." Bridget assured Mickey. The man rarely asked anything of her. Doing as he asked and trying to keep her brother in line was the least she could do.

"_Alright. I gotta go back to work now, Bridget. You going to be ok being left alone with your idiot of a brother?_" The joke pulled a giggled out of Bridget, as Mickey had intended.

"I'll be fine. Talk to you later."

"_Talk to you later, Bridget._" Bridget could nearly see the grin that Mickey most likely had on his face at that moment as he hung up. His tone of voice told her he was smiling. Smiling as well, Bridget gave the cellphone back to her brother.

"Front foyer. Twenty minutes." Bridget ordered, letting Colin know how long he had before she was done packing Jeanne's bag and ready to go.


	13. Confrontations

**A/N:** I'm so sorry for making you wait so long for an update! I have a lot more work to do this semester than I did last semester, so life has been hectic. Spring Break is next week, though, so hopefully I can get updates for _all_ my stories done!

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Tim leaned forward on his elbows as he rubbed his face in exhaustion. It was moments like this where he didn't envy Gibbs' job. The attack at Greco's was causing utter chaos and he didn't know what he should give priority to. Teams from both NCIS and the FBI were digging out all the bullets from the walls of the restaurant, all work on the McCarthy's had been put on hold to work with the FBI to figure out if the Russians really were the ones who instigated the attack, Jeanne Benoit was currently being held in the building for her safety and needed to be interviewed, and the media was clogging up most of the phones lines to get a statement since the FBI agents at the scene were more than happy to inform them that NCIS was at the helm.

"Need help?" Tim's hands dropped from his face as he looked up at Gibbs as if the man was the second coming of Christ.

"Dear, god, _yes_. I don't know where to start. There's just so many things to address and they're all screaming for attention." Gibbs let out a slightly amused look and pulled his own chair over to the side of Tim's.

"Ok, what needs to be covered?"

"Ballistics from the attack, reaching out to all known informants on the Russians, Jeanne Benoit's interview, and holding back the media." Tim listed off. He glared at his computer as it beeped, declaring that he had yet another email demanding attention.

"Can anything _wait_?" Gibbs asked, getting Tim's focus back on their discussion. He had the look that the Gibblets had titled his 'teacher' look since it only came out when he was patient enough to walk one of them through a lesson step-by-step instead of letting them figure it out on their own.

"The media could probably wait." Tim started. "If they weren't clogging up the phone lines and preventing communication with agents out in the field, I wouldn't be giving them a second glance at the moment."

"True. They're holding things back. What about the other three things? What is going on with them?"

"Reports about the Russians are making their way through the phone lines, but I'm also getting several emails asking for specific information to look for. A general search isn't giving much."

"Ok." Gibbs nodded in acknowledgment. "Searching for information on the Russians would be made easier if the flow of communication with our agents and informants was made smoother. What else?"

"The teams are still digging bullets from the walls. Both Abby's lab and the FBI's are beginning to fill with, not only the bullets that have already been dug out, but evidence from the rest of the scene." Tim rubbed a hand across his face again, mentally thanking whatever God that may exist that Gibbs was in a patient mood.

"So it may be a while until reports on all that start coming in. But, again, it may take a while since the phone lines are being clogged."

"Yes." Tim nodded in confirmation.

"What about Jeanne Benoit?"

"She's currently waiting to be interviewed. Tony is with her, but is under strict orders to simply help calm her down and only maintain small talk."

"You've summarized everything. Now what does it all tell you?" Gibbs prodded. He wasn't going to give a straight answer unless McGee was really becoming so exhausted that he couldn't think straight. Tim took a few moments to think over everything he just summarized for Gibbs and realized that the simplicity of the explanations made things somewhat obvious.

"Go interview Jeanne, send out a blanket statement to keep the media occupied until a detailed one can be made, then turn my focus on the evidence and whatever the informants are able to dig up." Gibbs let out another amused smirk at Tim's look of realization and stood up, returning his chair to his desk before heading off to do what he originally intended. Tim didn't bother to say thank you, knowing Gibbs wasn't expecting one, and turned his attention to his computer. Just a moment to check who his newest email was from and then he'd go speak with Jeanne Benoit.

"I'm telling you, Tony, her arrival is ill timed." Tim groaned, knowing Tony and Ziva's own arrival meant he would have to play mediator right away.

"And I'm telling you that she's most likely being targeted." Tony snapped back as he and Ziva reached the middle of the Bull Pen.

"Is Jeanne calmed down?" Tim asked befor Ziva could form a reply.

"Enough that I'm comfortable leaving her with the guards." Tony answered, turning to Tim as he did. "Any updates from ballistics or our people out in the field?"

"Nope. And we're not really going to get any just yet. The lines are still being swamped by the media demanding a statement. I was going to draft up a blanket statement after interviewing Jeanne. Is it safe for me to assume that you want her remaining here for a couple days instead of going to the intended safe house?" Tony threw Tim a look for the question, since the answer should be obvious, pulling a snort out of Tim. "I'll arrange for it. She made a call before I sent you down to calm her. A weekend bag should be delivered for her soon."

"You are trusting the Murphy's to pack a bag for her?" Ziva asked incredulously.

"I never said that." Tim defended himself in a deliberate tone, a somewhat mischievous look appearing on his face. Tony and Ziva exchanged confused looks when Tim didn't elaborate further, nearly missing Tim standing up at the ding of the front elevator. The two of them turned their attention to Tim's seemingly expected visitor. Their jaws dropped when they recognized Colin Murphy, who was slightly bent over in a hissed argument with the short, red-haired young woman walking next to him. The agent escorting them threw Tim a slightly panicked look, apparently recognizing Colin as well, but remained silent when Tim didn't acknowledge him.

"Tim!" The woman yelled in excitement, shoving the bag she was carrying towards Colin before darting forward and pulling Tim into a hug. Tony and Ziva remained frozen in shock, not knowing how to react, as Tim let out a chuckle and hugged the young woman back before she pulled away. "It's so awesome seeing where you work!"

"Hello, Bridget." Tim smiled as he filled in the missing blank that had been in the others' minds. "I hope you have been doing well. Sarah recently asked about you, but I was unable to answer."

"School, school, and some more school. Life has been relatively boring recently." Bridget rattled off at a high speed that put Abby to shame. "Anyway, I'm here with Jeanne's bag! I saw what happened to Greco's on the news. Absolutely terrible! Please tell me no one got hurt."

"No one important got hurt." Tim replied, throwing an angry look at Colin over Bridget's head. Colin stood at the end of the Bull Pen awkwardly, transferring his weight from one foot to the other as he kept the bag in question the way it had been shoved at him, and refused to make eye contact with anyone besides Tim. "I'm not surprised that Jeanne called you to pack her bag for her. Did you pack enough for a few days?"

"Of course!" Bridget turned with an outstretched hand to grab at the bag, obviously having expected Colin to follow her into the middle of the Bull Pen. "Colin, stop being a ninny and come over here! It's only Tim. He's not diseased!"

Colin glared at his baby sister but grudgingly stepped forward, shoving the bag back at her. The two Murphy siblings maintained glares at each other for a few moments before Bridget let out a huff and turned back around towards Tim.

"Here it is! Clothes, toiletries, the book she's been reading, and a couple other items that she bought on our trip to New York this past weekend." Tim took the offered bag by its strap, setting it down by the filing cabinets between his and Tony's desks.

"That should cover everything she may need. Right, Colin?" Tim turned his expression hard again as he pulled Colin into the conversation, earning a glare of his own.

"Yes, it should." Colin answered in a tense tone. Bridget pointedly ignored the looks her brother and Tim were throwing at each other, instead turning to smile at both Tony and Ziva.

"You two must be Tim's coworkers! Agent DiNozzo and Agent David. It's amazing finally being able to meet you two! Tommy and Lisa are my favorite fictional couple." Tim's eyes slammed shut in a silent groan as Colin's glare was joined by one from both Tony and Ziva. He waited a few seconds before opening his eyes again, aiming to ignore his partners as he addressed Colin.

"You know, Colin, you have a lot of nerve coming with Bridget. I only got your letter this morning. I got the feeling from it that you and I wouldn't be seeing each other any time soon."

"To quote myself, it couldn't be helped. My father didn't want Bridget coming here on her own and I was the only one available who was willing to play nice with DiNozzo." Colin growled back.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Tim rose an eyebrow. His eyes darted towards the elevator for a second when Gibbs, Fornell, and Sacks walked out of it, but he returned his focus back towards Colin. Now wasn't the time to panic.

"After everything that happened the last time Jeanne crossed paths with NCIS, do you honestly believe there isn't a single member of my family who doesn't want to kick his ass? There isn't. And believe me, I'd like nothing more than to smash his face into his desk right now. But I promised my father I'd play nice so Bridget wouldn't be returning home alone."

"Riiiiight..." Tim drawled out.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Fornell snapped, causing Colin to go stiff.

"He and his sister, Bridget, were just dropping off a bag for Jeanne Benoit." Tim replied. "They were just leaving."

"Can't believe you're truly arrogant enough to walk into the middle of a federal law enforcement agency, Murphy." Sacks hissed. Colin made to turn and say something back, but Tim stepped around Bridget and grabbed him by the arm to interrupt.

"Colin and his sister were just leaving." Tim repeated in a stern tone, giving Sacks a hard look. "We're too busy dealing with what happened at Greco's for you to be causing a scene, Sacks."

"Why are you..." Fornell began speaking, but went silent when Tim turned the hard look towards him. It was quite clear that Tim wasn't in the mood to deal with a confrontation between them and Colin.

"Bridget, Colin, thank you for delivering Miss Benoit's bag. I'll make sure she gets it." Tim let go of Colin's arm and stepped away. "I'm sure Agent Lowell will be more than happy to escort the two of you back to the main entrance."

"No problem! It was nice seeing you again. Tell Sarah I said hi." Bridget smiled, hugging Tim once again before walking to stand near Agent Lowell. Colin remained stiff, throwing Tim a cold look before joining his sister. Everyone remained silent as Agent Lowell quickly led Colin and Bridget back to the elevator to an effort to get them out of there as quickly as possible. The silence ended, though, as soon as the elevator doors closed.

"What the hell is going on?!" Fornell exploded, turning on Tim.

"I allowed Jeanne Benoit to call for a weekend bag. They were here to deliver it." Tim explained calmly.

"You're going to trust them that much? And why did you let Colin Murphy simply _walk_ out of here like that?!" Sacks injected.

"I'll be having it looked over while I interview Miss Benoit but she _will_ be getting it. As for letting Colin just walked out of here, we have no reason to hold him. He knew that coming in. That is why I insisted that they leave before you caused a scene, Sacks." Tim retorted. "Now why are you here?"

"To get updates."

"Too bad. I don't have anything for you. You'll just have to wait. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an interview to do and a statement to draft up for the media." Tim snatched up the bag in irritation as he turned away from the group, not giving Sacks or Fornell the chance to argue as he walked away. Tony and Ziva would explain what little happened for the others arrived.


	14. Interviews

**A/N: **Yay! Another update! Sorry for the long wait again. I've been swamped with finals lately, but now I'm on summer break! I also may be getting a job soon (I finally got an interview!), but that's neither here nor there and not a guarantee. In a nutshell, I got more writing time now! Let's hope I start getting loads more ideas.

If you've been waiting longer than everyone else, I do thank you immensely for being so patient through my hectic college schedule.

Enjoy the new chapter!

* * *

Keating rubbed his hands over his face, staring at his computer screen. He was _sure_ that the information he had found would lead to finding out who Mickey Murphy was. It was all but guaranteed. Keating was a bit proud of himself for coming up with the idea, as well. Instead of looking for a name, he looked through Colin Murphy's records to see if a name was _missing_. Identifying something missing that should be there was a trick he learned during his short stay on Gibbs' team and it was certainly working at the moment.

A loud bang had everyone in Cyber Crimes looking up towards the door as McGee stormed in, obviously irritated about something. Not wanting to catch the ire of anyone from Team Gibbs, they all immediately turned their attention back to their screens as McGee went straight to Wilder's station. Eying the two agents for a few moments, just to make sure McGee was there to actually speak with Wilder and not just to pass along a message, Keating inhaled sharply before quickly typing in a command on his keyboard. He watched his screen with a blank expression as file after file about the trail he had discovered was deleted off his computer.

* * *

"What just happened?" Fornell asked the group in general as he turned to give Gibbs a bemused look. It always amused him to see one of the younger agents channel their inner Gibbs but he needed context to understand why.

"McGee's been getting a lot of poking and prodding lately, pushing his limits. I'm surprised it took this long for him to get attitude with someone." Gibbs explained with his own look of amusement. "DiNozzo. David. What happened before we arrived?"

"The Murphy's arrived with Jeanne's bag, there seemed to be a three-way snark fest between the two of them and McGee, Miss Murphy expressed excitement about being able to meet 'the inspiration for Agent Tommy and Officer Lisa', and then you three arrived." Ziva summarized before Tony could open his mouth.

"Not much, then. Colin let his sister do most of the talking?" Fornell commented, directing his question at Ziva. She nodded in reply. "Figures. Sacks, we're not going to find out much during this visit. Why don't you head back to the Hoover Building? I'll call you with any updates if they happen."

"Fine." Sack threw a glare Tony's way, as if Tony was to blame for Tim's irritation, and stormed back towards the elevator.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Tony sneered at the elevator doors as they sealed Sacks in the metal tube. He turned back to Ziva with a roll of his eyes, changing his sneer to a smirk. "Back to the list of known associates, I guess."

"I guess..." Ziva glared back. With Tim off doing other things, she was stuck working with Tony all by herself and she was not happy about that.

* * *

Tim entered the room slowly in an attempt to keep his irritation outside and not inadvertently take it out on Jeanne Benoit. Making her defensive was not a good idea at the moment.

"Miss Murphy dropped off a weekend bag for you, Miss Benoit. Security will deliver it after putting it through our standard checks." Tim reported as he took a seat at the table across from Jeanne. It was a bit awkward holding her in an old interrogation room, but until the paperwork could be processed they couldn't put her into any of 'guest' quarters there at the Yard.

"As expected, of course..." Jeanne replied quietly. Tim was glad that she had calmed down significantly and wasn't still flailing about while sobbing since the team retreated from Greco's. He never liked having to deal with crying women when he had to get information from them.

"Of course." Tim repeated. He opened the folder he had been carrying and set it flat on the table, a blank legal pad right on top of the other papers. "These questions are just for formality purposes, Miss Benoit. We need to see if you may have noticed anything strange during your trip to the Navy Yard."

"I wasn't paying too close attention to the other cars around me. I was more concerned about how I was going to get Tony to agree to lunch." Jeanne said right away, as if to warn Tim she wasn't going to be much help.

"I understand that, Miss Benoit, but if you think back you may remember someone or something that registered as being rather peculiar to you. Was there a car that seemed to follow you for several blocks? Did anyone stare at your car when you had to stop at a red light?"

"Not...not that I saw." Jeanne fiddled with her hands on the table. "Other than thinking about Tony, I was looking to make sure none of the Murphy children were following me. There is no love lost between them and Tony after everything that happened with my father, and I wouldn't put it past them to take advantage of an opportunity to kick his ass."

"Colin said as much up in the Bull Pen." Tim commented dryly.

"Colin was here?" Jeanne's eyes snapped up to Tim in shock. "He came with Bridget?"

"Yes. Something about being her escort or whatnot. To be fair, I'm not surprised his father ordered it. According to the evidence so far, the Russians are the ones who shot up the restaurant and I'd bet _someone_ was following you today. How else would they have known that you and Tony went to Greco's?" Tim wrote down a few notes on the legal pad as he spoke.

"Well..." Jeanne began. "I was on the main roads all the way here. Couldn't you check the security cameras to see if anyone was following me?"

"We are. We just need to see if you can provide us with a place to start. If not, we'll start with the cameras closest to the Murphy residence and follow your car as you made your way to the Navy Yard." Tim explained. He gave Jeanne the chance to carefully think over her memories of her trip to the Yard, not wanting to rush her and possibly cause her to give false information. False leads were a pain in the ass to clean up after.

"I didn't hit any traffic until I was close to Silver Spring. There was the occasional truck, but most of the cars in that area are hybrids. No one really stood out." Tim wrote down Jeanne's observations on the pad, nodding to let her know he was listening. "Once I passed the golf course in Rock Creek Park, though, it was a sudden mish mash of nearly every kind of car people drive in the D.C. area. You'd have to have an _extremely_ unique car to be noticed."

"Anyone following you would have used a car designed to blend in with the general D.C. traffic. You noticing them would have been the last thing they wanted. Is there anything else you can remember?"

"There was a fender bender near the Smithsonian. It held me up until the drivers got their cars out of the street. I was sitting there for about ten minutes while they were arguing." Jeanne scrunched her face slightly as she tried to remember any other details.

"That's actually a good thing." Tim commented as he made a note about it. "If anyone was following you, they may have gotten stuck in traffic with you. They could have lost if you if they left. We can use face recognition on all the drivers in the cars around you when that happened."

A knock on the door grabbed both of their attentions, a security guard stepping in with Jeanne's bag.

"Miss Benoit's bag, Agent McGee. Agent Gibbs said to go ahead and bring it right in."

"Thanks, Thompson. You can set it down next to the door." Tim directed, giving the guard a smile in thanks for the delivery. As soon as the guard closed the door behind him, Tim turned back to Jeanne. "Anything else?"

"No. Nothing. Traffic was smooth the rest of the way here."

"Alright..." Tim wrote down a few more notes for himself for when he started looking at the security footage. "This will all be a great help. If you remember anything else about your trip here, anything at all, notify the guard outside to call for me. The paperwork about you accepting NCIS' protect should be processed soon, so you may be transferred to our guest quarters shortly."

"Thank you, Agent McGee. I know my...well, my arrival here must have thrown a wrench in your investigation." Jeanne frowned slightly.

"It's not a problem, Miss Benoit. If anything, it helped in a twisted sort of way. Now, I'm going to head back to the Bull Pen and get to work on the information you've just provided. I'll send Tony down the next time he has a break to check on you, if that's ok." Tim stood up, collecting the few things he brought with him. He waited for Jeanne to nod her consent for him to send Tony down before giving her a smile and heading out the door.


End file.
